“Light smokers”: what are the effects of tobacco on their health?

The cigarette at the end of the day or the one during an aperitif with friends, many people are attached to it, and they think that its impact on their health is necessarily moderate. But are the number of daily cigarettes and negative consequences on the body really so linked?

Smoking and cardiovascular problems

Certainly, light smokers are less exposed than heavy smokers: those who smoke only one cigarette per day have half the risk of myocardial infarction or stroke (cardiovascular accident) than people who smoke a packet over the same period. This information should nevertheless be qualified: non-smokers have 3 times less risk of dying from these diseases than people who smoke around 5 cigarettes per day, and 4 times less than those who smoke 20 cigarettes per 24 hours.

Longevity of smoking more impactful than pace

It may seem surprising, but it is more harmful to your health to smoke a few cigarettes a day for a decade than to smoke intensively for a year – for the same total number of cigarettes. The number of years of smoking is indeed a determining factor. Another aggravating factor: the start of the practice among adolescents, since we know that tobacco slows the development of the lungs. Addiction can also set in very quickly in these subjects (see our article).

The heart, affected even in small doses

The reason for this impact: our body's sensitivity to tobacco toxins. Just a few cigarettes a day are enough for these products to alter the quality of our blood circulation, our vessels and our arteries. The formation of blood clots and atherosclerotic plaques leads in particular to arterial spasms and obstruction of the vessels.

The lungs, weakened over time

On the lung side, while light smokers are slightly preserved, they do not escape unscathed: their respiratory capacity decreases regularly (7 ml less air each year compared to 11 for heavy smokers). They are therefore also concerned by the notorious risk of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), a disease caused by the narrowing of the airways. In addition, the toxins in tobacco irritate and inflame the tissues of the nose, throat and lungs, which can notably cause the onset of lung cancer. A light smoker is 3 times more likely to develop this disease than a non-smoker, a heavy smoker 10 to 15 times more likely.

In conclusion

It is therefore clear that even limited consumption cannot be without risks. Also, while reducing one's practice is obviously commendable and preferable, the ideal will always remain to stop smoking altogether. ©Generation Without Tobacco

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"Is smoking three cigarettes a day as dangerous as a pack?", Anne-Laure Lebrun, Santé magazine, article updated on May 7, 2020 and based on interviews with Dr. Gérard Peiffer, pulmonologist and tobacco specialist (CHR Metz-Thionville) and Professor Daniel Thomas, cardiologist and honorary president of the French Federation of Cardiology. [i] "Two cigarettes a day are enough to make a teenager permanently dependent" https://www.generationsanstabac.org/actualites/deux-cigarettes-par-jour-suffisent-pour-rendre-un-adolescent-durablement-dependant/ [i] https://www.santemagazine.fr/sante/addictions/tabac/fumer-trois-cigarettes-par-jour-est-ce-aussi-dangereux-quun-paquet-430671 ©DNF - For a Zero Tobacco World |