heart rhythm problem

Smoking ups risk of common heart rhythm problem

In a new study finds that both current and former smokers run an elevated risk of the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation. The condition known as AF, is the most common heart arrhythmia, affecting 2 million people. The arrhythmia itself is not life threatening, but over time AF can contribute to stroke or heart failure in some people.

The new findings, reported in the American Heart Journal, suggest that it does even after a smoker quits. Researchers found, nearly 5,700 Dutch adults age 55 & older, current smokers & former smokers were about 50% more likely to develop AF over 7 years.

An independent effect of smoking on atrial fibrillation has never been found, until now, in the study. Even when the researchers took other factors into account such as age, and whether participants had high blood pressure or had ever suffered a heart attack smoking itself was still linked to higher AF risk. It is surprising that former smokers had an AF risk comparable to current smokers.

But the finding does not mean that quitting the habit is "meaningless," the researcher stressed. It's known that smokers who quit lower their risk of developing a number of smoking-related ills, including lung cancer and heart attacks.