Long-term smoking cessation reverses artery stiffness

Posted on: 21 March 2007

Smokers’ arteries can lose their tobacco-induced stiffness after the habit is kicked but it can take them up to a decade to get back to normal levels, according to a new study by TCD researchers.

This study reinforces the message that smoking cessation is an important step smokers can take to enhance the quality and length of their lives, stated the authors of the report published in the March 2007 edition of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“It took at least 10 years before the arteries got back to where they were before smoking. The lesson is that the more quickly you give up smoking, the better it is for your arteries,” explained senior author Dr. Azra Mahmud, a lecturer in cardiovascular pharmacology at Trinity College Dublin.

Hardened arteries can increase blood pressure, boosting the risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attack and stroke.

The study looked at 554 people in three groups: current smokers, ex-smokers and never-smokers. The researchers categorised ex-smokers according to how long they were off cigarettes – under one year, more than one but less than 10 years and more than 10 years of smoking cessation.

Using Arterial Pulse Wave Analysis, a technology that measures arterial stiffness, they found that current and ex-smokers of only one year had significantly higher stiffness measurements compared with non-smokers. In ex-smokers, duration of smoking cessation was directly related to improvement in arterial stiffness. They found some improvement after one to 10 years, but arterial stiffness parameters only reached normal levels after more than a decade of smoking cessation.      

However, researchers noted that results need to be confirmed in a prospective, longitudinal study – one that follows patients over time.

Authors from the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James’s Hospital are lead author Noor Ahmed Jatoi, M.B.B.S., D.C.N., D.M.M.D, co-authors Paula Jerrard-Dunne, M.D.; PhD, John Feely, M.D. and senior author Azra Mahmud, M.D., Ph.D.