HYDERABAD: The best way smokers can reduce their risk of heart diseases and stay heart strong is to quit smoking as soon as possible. Even extremely light smoking — as little as one cigarette a day — can increase a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke and should be avoided. If you’re a heavy smoker with a 20-pack-a-year smoking history but decide to quit now, you can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 39 per cent within five years. Just 20 minutes after you quit smoking, your heart rate drops. And as you quit smoking completely the cardiovascular system begins to heal relatively quickly,” says Dr.Sridhar Kasturi, Interventional Cardiologist, Hyderabad.
He added, “Since diabetes is also a risk factor for heart disease, you definitely don’t want the extra risk that smoking brings. So, in order to minimize your chances of developing diabetic complications and heart diseases, diabetics should quit smoking. Also,keeping blood pressure, cholesterol levels and other risk factors under check."
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