10 years after quitting, ex-smokers' arteries relax: study

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Ten years after quitting, former smokers' arteries returned to a level of stiffness seen in non-smokers, according to an article published Monday by the American Heart Association.

"Smoking a single cigarette, passive or second-hand smoking and chronic smoking all lead to stiffer arteries, which in turn increase resistance in the blood vessels and, therefore, increase the work that the heart must do," said Noor Ahmed Jatoi, lead author of the study published in Hypertension, the Journal of the American Heart Association.

"Smoking is a major risk factor, not only for lung disease and cancer, but also for heart attack, stroke and heart failure," said Jatoi of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Arterial wall stiffness, or arteriosclerosis, is...