HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Nov. 11, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Smokers have an elevated risk of dangerous aneurysms in the body’s largest artery, but quitting can cut those odds, a new study confirms.
Experts have long known that smoking raises the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm — a weak spot in the wall of the aorta, where it passes through the abdomen. The aorta is the body’s main artery, and if an aneurysm there ruptures, it can cause massive internal bleeding.
Researchers said the new study, because of its large size, gives a clearer picture of the risks.
The investigators found that middle-aged smokers had a roughly one in nine chance of developing an abdominal aortic aneurysm in their lifetime.
But if they quit during the study period, that risk declined by 29 percent, versus people who kept smoking. And longer-term quitters — people who’d stopped smoking before the study — had an even lower risk, the findings showed.
“Quitting can substantially reduce the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm,” said lead researcher Dr. Weihong Tang, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis. “It’s never too late to quit.”
Dr. Elizabeth Ross, a cardiologist and spokesperson for the American Heart Association, agreed.
“Some people think that if they’ve been smoking for decades, it’s too late to benefit from quitting,” Ross said.
But, she stressed, it’s clear that when smokers kick the habit, their odds of cardiovascular disease — not only aortic aneurysm — go down.
To Ross, the “most important” finding of the study related to women: It found that among women who kept smoking, the lifetime risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm was over 8 percent.
“That’s important because abdominal aortic aneurysm is often seen as a disease that affects men,” Ross said. “But smoking puts both men and women at increased risk.”
However, it’s true, she noted, that the condition is more common among men.
That point is emphasized in guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an expert medical panel that advises the federal government.
The guidelines say that men aged 65 to 75 who have ever smoked should be offered a one-time screening test for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Screening can also be “considered” for men who’ve never smoked.
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