Consider another point against smoking: It can lead to an increase in a type of body fat linked to serious illness, according to a new study.
Both starting to smoke and spending a lifetime smoking cigarettes were associated with an increase in abdominal fat, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Addiction.
And additional analysis showed that the increase may be due to visceral fat, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Germán Carrasquilla, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
Visceral fat is not visible: it surrounds the organs inside the abdomen. It’s normal and healthy for visceral fat to make up about 10 percent of your body weight, according to the Cleveland Clinic. However, too much visceral fat can lead to inflammation and contribute to chronic disease.
“Its location and the way it interacts with our body’s functions make it particularly dangerous,” Carrasquilla said in an email. “This type of fat is strongly linked to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic conditions.”
The results show the need for large-scale efforts to prevent and reduce smoking, he said.
“Reducing an important risk to the health of the population will indirectly reduce another important risk to health,” Carrasquilla said in a statement.
Bad habits travel together
The research team performed a statistical analysis called Mendelian randomization, which uses genetic differences to study how behaviors or environments lead to different health outcomes.
“By examining genetic data we can infer whether a relationship is causal, going beyond associations,” said Carrasquilla.
The study is well done, and while it provides strong evidence that smoking and abdominal fat gain are causal, not just correlational, it’s not entirely definitive, said Naveed Sattar, a professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. . He did not participate in the investigation.
There could be some confounding elements that strengthen the link between smoking and belly fat, added Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver.
“Bad habits also tend to travel together,” said Freeman, who was not involved in the research. For example, people might reach for a pack of cigarettes when they’re stressed or smoke while drinking a beer, she said.
Are you ready to quit smoking?
A big question that remains is whether quitting smoking can reverse the development of abdominal fat, Carrasquilla said.
But that doesn’t mean smokers should hesitate to start down the path to quitting, he said.
“We all know smoking is bad,” he said. “Public health interventions should continue to emphasize the overall health improvements associated with smoking cessation.”
Even aside from cigarettes, breathing substances (such as marijuana, air pollution and cooking smoke) has been associated with an increase in cardiovascular and lung diseases, Freeman added.
“Any inhaled substance is bad news,” he said. “Getting rid of it is always a plus.”
However, quitting smoking is very difficult.
Freeman recommends her patients use support programs like the 1-800-QUIT-NOW helpline and find ways to eliminate temptation, especially if you have loved ones who also smoke.
“If there is a partner in the home or another person in the home who smokes, it will be very difficult to quit,” he said. “I always tell people, if you have friends who smoke and you’re trying to quit, tell them you’ll see them in a few months, no matter how horrible it may seem.”
It can also be helpful to find new ways to cope with stress, since stress is often a big factor that leads people to smoke, he said.
Exercise is not only a good stress reducer, but it has also been shown to be a powerful aid in quitting smoking, Freeman added.
“It’s really important to get 30 minutes a day of good activity without breathing,” she said.
Regardless of how you approach quitting smoking, the first step is to get to the point where you’re ready and eager to kick the habit, Freeman said. It could be the desire to be stronger, healthier, or even just save money.
“If you’re not ready to quit, I could cover you from head to toe in patches and give you body weight medications to help you quit, and you’re not going to quit,” he said.
“Do you want to be Grandpa Joe or Grandma Jean, who suffers from cardiovascular diseases that would have been made worse by smoking cigarettes and having miserable times in old age, or do you want to dance with your great-grandchildren?” Freeman said. “That’s really the motivating factor.”