SMOKERS who cut down on the number of cigarettes they smoke each day may actually breathe in more toxic compounds than when they smoked heavily, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that a group of heavy smokers who cut down to as few as five cigarettes per day still inhaled many more toxic substances than long-term light smokers.

Why? Because they inhaled more often and more deeply from each cigarette in an unconscious bid to get the same amount of nicotine that their bodies are used to.

This habit is known as ‘compensatory’ smoking, and it may reduce any health benefits of cutting down on cigarettes, according to a study in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

‘The best way to reduce risk for disease is to quit smoking altogether,’ said lead author Dr Dorothy Hatsukami, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota.

Dr Hatsukami said her findings are consistent with what has been seen in studies of smokers’ disease rates. That research suggests that people who cut their smoking by half lower their risk of lung cancer by no more than a quarter – and their odds of other smoking-related ailments, like heart disease and serious lung conditions like emphysema, by only a few per cent.

‘It’s a good explanatory factor for why you don’t see a reduction in cardiovascular and pulmonary disease,’ she said.

That doesn’t mean there is no reason for cutting back on cigarettes. Smokers who can’t quit cold turkey can still trim down their number of daily cigarettes as a first step, Dr Hatsukami said.

But that should be only the first step in the process of quitting entirely, she said. – Reuters.

Tags: Anti-smoking, health, Non-Smokers, quit-smoking, smoke, smokers, smoking, stop-smoking, stopping-smoking, toxins