Key Takeaways
- It has long been established that smoking increases the risk of atrial fibrillation.
- According to recent studies, smokers who give up have a rapid decrease in their risk of developing a deadly irregular heartbeat.
- According to study, ex-smokers are not destined for A-Fib.
Sept. 13, 2024, Friday (Health Day News) — According to recent research, smokers who decide to give up will see nearly instant health advantages, including a rapid decrease in their risk of atrial fibrillation.
According to research senior author Dr. Gregory Marcus, “the findings provide a compelling new reason to show current smokers that it’s not too late to quit and that having smoked in the past doesn’t mean you’re ‘destined’ to develop A-Fib.”
“A-Fib can still be prevented, even for those who smoke currently and in the past,” stated Marcus, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco. His group’s research was published in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology on September 11.
The atria, or upper chambers of the heart, begin to beat irregularly when an arrhythmia occurs. This raises the possibility of a blood clot and pooling in the atria, which increases the risk of stroke.
Marcus stated, “The benefits of quitting have been less certain, but there is strong evidence that smoking increases the risk of A-Fib.” “We sought to ascertain whether stopping smoking would reduce or maintain an individual’s risk of developing A-Fib.”
They examined British data on over 146,700 smokers, both present and past, whose health and smoking histories were monitored for 12 years in the UK Biobank database, in order to ascertain this.
According to Marcus’ team, those who had smoked before enrolling in the trial had a 13% lower chance of developing A-Fib than those who currently smoke. If the smoker had stopped during the study, their risk decreased to 18% lower than that of current smokers.
“This is probably evidence of how effective it is to lower the risk of atrial fibrillation very quickly after stopping,” Marcus stated in an American College of Cardiology news release.
