estrogen, which has been shown to protect against the narrowing of the arteries.
Also, men have larger heart arteries than women, which means that chronic inflammation caused by smoking may result in a greater narrowing of women’s heart arteries.
The authors noted that while smoking increases the risk of STEMI, the risk is quickly lowered if you quit.
“Our study found that smoking cessation, regardless of age or gender, reduces STEMI risk to that of a never-smoker, possibly within a month,” said study senior author Dr. Ever Grech a consultant interventional cardiologist at South Yorkshire Cardiothoracic Center in Sheffield.
“Patients who smoke merit encouragement to give up their habit, and this study adds quantitative evidence to the massive benefits of doing so,” Grech said in a journal news release.
For more information on smoking and smoking cessation, visit our Health Conditions page on BlackDoctor.org.
SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, news release, June 24, 2019