A new U.S. study shows that weight gained after quitting smoking may not have any influence on health, reports Medical Xpress.
Quitting Smoking has several benefits but individuals tend to continue smoking fearing weight gain, which in turm may effect their cardiovascular health. Previous studies have explained the benefits of quitting smoking but none have shown if weight gained after giving up smoking has increased cardiovascular risks. The new study is the first to highlight that weight gained after giving up smoking has no impact on heart health, says the report.
The research shows that individuals with diabetes who quit smoking are almost equally benefited as the ones without the disease. Since obesity increases the risk of developing heart diseases, this study might help motivate those who fear developing cardiovascular diseases after putting on weight once they quit smoking.
The research used data from the Framingham Offspring Study, where participants have a complete medical exam conducted every four to six years since 1971. The new study gathered information about the participants who appeared on their third to eighth visit from 1980 to 2000. Each exam cycle included more than 3,000 participants.
The participants were categorized into groups based on their information from each exam, which included non smokers, current smokers, recent quitters and long term quitters. The gathered information also showed that 18 percent of current smokers had quit by their eighth visit. Weight gain was seen among all participants and the least weight gain was seen among the group of smokers, never smokers and long term quitters of an average of a pound or two. However, recent quitters gained nearly 5 to 10 pounds in a period of six months.
Despite the weight gain, the study showed no significant increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Long-term quitters had a 54 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to smokers and recent quitters who had a 53 percent lower risk of the disease.
"We now can say without question that stopping smoking has a very positive effect on cardiovascular risk for patients with and without diabetes, even if they experience the moderate weight gain seen in this study, which matches post-cessation weight increase reported in other studies," James Meigs, MD, MPH, of the General Medicine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) senior author of the JAMA report, said.
Meigs also noted that people with diabetes who quit smoking also had "the same pattern of a large risk reduction regardless of weight gained" when compared to those without diabetes.
The study appears in 13 March issue of Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA.
