People who quit smoking after a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) significantly reduce their risk of a second stroke, heart attack, or death, according to a new study published online on September 8 in Neurology.
Tobacco use is a major risk factor for stroke, accounting for as many as a third or more of all strokes in the United States. Smoking (and other forms of tobacco use) also raise the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, as well as other health conditions like asthma, cancer, and coronary artery disease.
Another risk factor for stroke is already having had a stroke. That's why stroke survivors who smoke are especially at risk.
To measure the health benefit of quitting smoking among stroke survivors, researchers at several universities in the United States and the United Kingdom followed 3,876 participants in the Insulin Resistance Intervention after Stroke (IRIS) study. This international trial involving almost 180 hospitals in seven countries was designed to test the long-term effectiveness of a diabetes drug called pioglitazone. All participants had recently had a stroke or a TIA, and some were smokers. They did not have diabetes, but they were insulin resistant.
At the start of the five-year study and every year thereafter, the researchers gave the participants a questionnaire about their history of tobacco use. At the beginning of the study, 1,072 participants identified as smokers. By the time the participants were randomly assigned to receive pioglitazone or placebo in the IRIS study (the time varied among participants), 450 had quit smoking.
Over the five-year study period, the researchers reviewed the participants' health records to determine how many had had strokes, heart attacks, or died. Then they compared the tobacco use questionnaires to those health records to look for associations between smoking status and health events.
Among people who quit smoking, the five-year risk of stroke, heart attack, or death was 15.7 percent, significantly less than the 22.6 percent among patients who continued to smoke.
These findings show that it's never too late to quit smoking, the study authors say. Plus, they add, the fact that the difference in risk was so substantial within a relatively short time suggests that the risk might drop even more over a longer period of time.
Plenty of resources are available to help you quit smoking. Talk with your doctor, who can direct you to resources, programs, and support groups to help you quit. You can also visit smokefree.gov, a website of the National Institutes of Health, to create a quit plan, learn tips and tricks, speak with experts, and more.