A Few Cigarettes a Day Can Kill, Too

VITAL SIGNS by Eric Nogourney
This article was published in the New York Times Science section, Ó Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2005

     Smokers who hope to avoid serious illness by limited their intake to a few cigarettes a day may be making a big mistake.
     Writing in the current issue of Tobacco Control, researchers report that even people who smoke as few as one to four cigarettes a day significantly increase their risk of death from lung cancer or heart disease.
     The study, led by Dr. Kjell Bjartveit of the National Health Service in Oslo, found that the risk of dying from heart disease for light smokers was three times higher than it was for non-smokers.
     Women who were light smokers were found to have a five times higher risk of dying from lung cancer.
     Men and women who were light smokers had a one-and-a-half times higher risk of dying prematurely from all causes than non-smokers did.
     “Health educators,” the researchers wrote, “should emphasize more strongly that light smokers are also endangering their health.”
     The findings were based on a long-term study of more than 40,000 men and women in Oslo….