Heavy ex-smokers remain at high risk for stroke

	Tweet

People who smoked heavily in the past before quitting carry a long-term risk for stroke, warned doctors at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference.

“How much you smoked matters more than how long ago you quit,” Dr. Sachin Agarwal told Reuters Health. “Smokers should quit as soon as possible, and new smokers should be aware that there will be a lifelong risk. Cessation can reduce risk but it can’t erase it,” he said.

Agarwal and colleagues at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, used magnetic resonance imaging to compare aortic wall volume, as well as carotid (neck) artery thickness, in 27 former smokers and 15 people who had never smoked.

Many strokes occur when one or both of the neck arteries narrow due to plaque build up and a clot plugs the artery and shuts off blood flow to the brain. Thickening of the neck arteries precedes the build up of plaque and contributes to increased stroke risk.

The former smokers had quit an average of 30 years previously and had an average exposure of 20 pack-years—derived from the number of years smoked and the number of packs of cigarettes smoked daily.

They were divided into four groups: group 1 had smoked 20 pack-years or less and had quit more than 15 years previously, on average; group 2 had smoked 20 pack-years or less and had quit fewer than 15 years previously; group 3 had smoked 20 pack-years or more and had quit more than 15 years or more; and group 4 had smoked 20 pack-years or more and had quit within the past 15 years.

Comparing all of the former smokers with the never smokers, Agarwal’s team found that the aortic walls of former smokers were thicker than the aortic walls of never smokers. Wall dimensions increased progressively with the length and intensity of smoking history.

Similarly, carotid artery wall volume was higher in former smokers than never smokers, with differences correlated with smoking history.

“We saw there was a strong and direct relationship between arterial wall thickness and increasing levels of risk of former smoking,” Agarwal said in a statement.

The associations between smoking and arterial wall thickness remained significant after accounting for age, gender, history of High Blood Pressure, diabetes, alcohol intake, and cholesterol levels.

Agarwal said the message is clear: “Smokers should quit as soon as possible.”

RELATED STORIES:
Medicare shortchanges hospitals on stroke therapy   Mobile Robots Offer 24/7 Care to Neurosurgical ICU, Stroke Patients   Researchers focus on secondary stroke prevention after study reveals room for improvement   An Apple a Day May Just Keep Strokes Away   Surgical bypass procedure in the skull does not reduce risk of stroke recurrence   Review of stroke treatment could save lives   To Prevent Death Or Disability Seek Immediate Care When Stroke Symptoms Occur   Migraine Raises Risk of Most Common Form of Stroke   Acupuncture not helpful for stroke recovery   New Procedure Offers Hope to Patients at High Risk for Recurrent Stroke   High blood calcium tied to better stroke outcome   Pulse pressure predicts recurrent stroke in blacks

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]