Quit smoking for 15 years…and it could be like you had never smoked!

All smokers take note: new research has shown that those successfully quit smoking for a sustained period of 15 years, can massively decrease the chance of suffering with heart failure or even dying.

U.S. Scientists made the remarkable discovery that people who stopped smoking almost two decades previously, had a comparable risk to those that had never smoked before.

Despite the findings clearly being a positive for all smokers across the globe, heavier smokers – i.e. those that had gone through at least a packet of cigarettes each day for 32 years or more – still had a slightly increased risk of health problems.

However, lead researcher Dr Ali Ahmed, from the Washington DC VA Medical Center, is pretty clear with the message…people either need to cut down on their smoking, stop smoking as early as they can, or simply never start smoking.

He commented: “While all individuals who quit smoking will benefit from a decreased chance of death, to achieve the full complement of health benefits of smoking cessation of one who has never smoked, smokers need to smoke less and quit early, and for those are not smokers – never start smoking.”

The findings were extracted via the most recent data from the Cardiovascular Health Study, which comprised of 2,556 people that had claimed to never smoked, 629 present smokers and 1,297 previous smokers. Every participant in the study was aged 65 or over, and 312 of the previous smokers admitted to heavy cigarette usage – smoking at least one pack daily for 32 years or more.

After a 13 year follow-up evaluation, the proportion of never smokers and previous smokers who had suffered heart failure, was found to be 21% in both groups. Within the group of former smokers that had consumed one pack per day for at least 32 years, nearly 30% suffered heart failure.

Comparison of mortality risks among present smokers and heavy smokers to never smokers was an interesting find. Researchers accounted for factors such as age, sex, race, education, other health conditions and medications, discovering that present smokers were around twice more likely to die from other diseases in comparison to those that had never smoked, and previous smokers were found to be 26% more likely to die compared to the never smokers.

Dr Ahmed told Reuters: “When one smokes, it induces atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in the arteries. However, when one quits smoking, the buildup of plaque and risk of blood of clots decreases, allowing one’s cardiovascular risk to return to normal over time.”

Atherosclerosis is the medical term used when a person’s arteries have become narrower and harderned, usually caused by a high level of ‘bad’ low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
Statins like atorvastatin (Lipitor) and rosuvastatin (Crestor) are currently taken by around 7 million people in Britain, and work to decrease rates of LDL cholesterol by reducing the production of LDL cholesterol inside the liver. It is dangerous to have high rates of LDL cholesterol as this causes the atherosclerosis, resulting in a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and coronary heart disease.

Millions more to be eligible for cholesterol-boosting statins

The threshold for those eligible to take cholesterol-lowering statins has been drastically cut by medicines regulator the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), meaning millions more adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will now be offered statins by doctors.

Under controversial guidelines from the watchdog, most men aged over 60 and women over 65 will now be advised to take statins such as Atorvastatin, Pravastatin or Rosuvastatin. This will be the case even if they are only at a one in 10 risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The current threshold is 20%.

NICE say the recommendation to take statins to an extra 4.5 million adults is necessary to avoid “a tragedy waiting to happen” by decreasing the numbers of people suffering with heart attacks and strokes.

Around 12.5 million people are currently eligible for the drugs, and the NHS could see costs of an extra £52 million annually from the extra 4.5 million patients being offered statin medication. Due to decreasing costs for the drugs, the total NHS bill for statins would actually still be less than what it was in 2012.

Speaking yesterday, the NICE guidance panel argued the recommendations were devised from the “biggest ever clinical trial” and that 50,000 lives could be saved each year if those now eligible regularly took statins.

However, that indeed could be one major stumbling block – getting patients to keep taking their treatment. NICE admit that statin uptake only stands at around 60% usually, and that benefits to be gained are more likely to be 4,000 lives saved each year in addition to 22,000 strokes and heart attacks averted.

One in three deaths in the UK are the result of cardiovascular disease. It is for this reason why statins remain the most prescribed type of medication on the NHS, with Medical Specialists™ Pharmacy also seeing massive amounts of patients requesting statins to help lower their ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, whilst raising the ‘good’ HDL cholesterol!

Although some doctors have claimed the new guidelines for statins are primarily based on studies funded by the pharmaceutical industry, this has been quickly refuted by NICE.

Professor Mark Baker, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE, blasted that such claims were “ludicrous”.

“Nobody gets onto our guideline groups if they have any significant vested interest, especially a financial interest,” he commented. “Statins are safe and effective and it is a good deal for more people to have access to them under the NHS.”

Professor Peter Weissberg, the medical director at the British Heart Foundation, stressed the importance of positive lifestyle choices in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. He said: “Doctors will now be able to offer a statin to people at a lower risk, but their prescription is not mandated.

“Just as important is the emphasis on trying lifestyle changes before considering treatments with drugs.”

For example, lifestyle changes hinted at by Professor Weissberg include: quitting smoking, maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly, consume alcohol only in moderation, manage stress levels better, have a diet rich in fruit and vegetables/limited in trans fats and keep your blood pressure under control.

Earl Grey tea as good as statins at fighting heart disease?

Every office has that one person who is brew-shy and will avoid having to fill up the kettle at all costs! However, these type of people may reconsider after scientists discovered that drinking Earl Grey tea could help to protest against the onset of heart disease.

The tasty beverage – a popular drink in television program Downton Abbey -  contains a fragrant Mediterranean citrus fruit bergamot, an extract responsible for the distinct taste and smell which experts found can be as beneficial as statins like Atorvastatin or Pravastatin in lowering bad cholesterol and ultimately lowering the risk of heart disease.

New research has shown that Earl’s Grey tea contains enzymes called HMGF (hydroxy methyl glutaryl flavonones), which work at fighting the body’s proteins that help to cause cardiovascular disease – something which is the primary reason for a quarter of deaths in the UK.

The study was conducted by scientists from Italy’s University of Calabria, who worked with concentrations of HMGF on the proteins that are responsible for ‘bad’ cholesterol and heart disease.
Writing in the Journal of Functional Foods, they said that a dietary supplement of HMGF could be as comparable as statin therapy in fighting low-density proteins (LDL) or ‘bad’ cholesterol, with the bergamot extract with HMGF working just as well as the medications after comparison.

Not only were levels of the bad LDL cholesterol reduced, but researchers also found that the bergamot extract also increased HDL, also referred to as ‘good cholesterol’.

Citrus foods belong to the heavily praised ‘Mediterranean diet’, something which adhered to,  many health experts argue it can dramatically lower the risk of heart disease. Food and drink from this diet that can aid health include a moderate consumption of ethanol – derived from the wine, low consumption of meat, and high intake of vegetables, fruit, nuts, legumes, fish and olive oil.

Bergamot has only been added to many traditional Mediterranean‘folk’ medicines for the treatment of wounds, inflammation and as an antiseptic, in addition to its boost for the heart.

The journal’s report said: “High cholesterol is a common health concern for us all and often statins are given to help treat the condition. Extract from bergamot – most commonly used in Earl Grey tea – reduced total cholesterol and LDL levels but there was an increase in HDL levels (good cholesterol). Therefore a daily supplement of bergamot fruit extract could be very effective for the treatment of high cholesterol.”

Cholesterol-busting statins such as Crestor (Rosuvastatin) and Lipitor (Atorvastatin) are currently prescribed to around 7 million Brits and function by raising good/protective cholesterol (HDL) and lowering bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides. The higher your cholesterol level, the higher your risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke due to your arteries being clogged up with the fat-like substance known as cholesterol.