Washington, Nov 28: If you thought that cutting your daily cigarette quota by half would be beneficial to your health, well than you better think again, for a new study has found that doing so makes no difference at all.
The study, which appears in Tobacco Control, found that though reducing consumption may have a place as a temporary measure in smoking cessation, the only way to live a healthy life, is to kick the butt altogether.
The researchers based their findings on more than 51,000 men and women, all of whom were aged between 20 and 34 at the start of the study.
As a part of the study the participants were initially assessed for cardiovascular risk factors, and then screened again twice at an interval of three to 10 years, adding up to an average monitoring period of over two decades.
They were classified as never smokers; ex smokers, quitters (those who gave up between the first and second check); moderate smokers (1 to 14 cigarettes daily); reducers (more than 15 cigarettes a day, cut by more than half at the second check); and heavy smokers (more than 15 cigarettes a day).
The researchers found that among men, deaths from lung cancer and cancers associated with smoking were not significantly lower in those who had cut back compared with heavy smokers, and that men who cut back only had slightly lower death rates from all causes combined than the heavy smokers during the first 15 years.
The team also found that the same was not true of women who cut back and that those who back actually had higher death rates from all causes combined than heavy smokers.
The researchers concluded that people may be misled if they are advised that cutting back will help them stave off diseases such as lung cancer etc. (ANI)