The negative health effects of smoking are clear and well
established. As a result, smokers have been encouraged to completely quit
smoking in order to reduce the risk of health problems. However, despite repeated
attempts, most smokers find quitting to be extremely difficult. Without help, less
than 1 in 20 smokers can quit; even with outside help, less than 1 in 4 smokers
are successful at quitting.
Despite these rather gloomy statistics, the potential
benefit of simply reducing the amount of smoking (as opposed to quitting) has
not received much attention from the scientific community. However, a recent
study changes this. A team of researchers from the School of Public Health at
Tel Aviv University followed individuals over a 40 year time period. Smoking
habits were recorded for the first two years of the study. The study found that,
although quitting resulted in the greatest benefit to survival, reducing
smoking was also beneficial. Individuals who reduced their smoking within the
first two years lived longer than those who did not change smoking habits. Survival
of individuals who quit smoking was even greater than those who reduced smoking
habits.
While previous research has focused primarily on the
benefits of quitting smoking, this study is among the first to show a health
benefit from a reduction in smoking. Jennifer Taussig, MPH, of Emory University
notes that “These findings should provide encouragement for smokers who haven’t
been able to quit. For these individuals, reducing the number of cigarettes
smoked per day may have a positive effect on long-term health.”
If quitting doesn’t seem to be an option, current smokers
should consider how to reduce their overall intake of cigarettes. Physicians
should use the results of this study to encourage patients to reduce their
overall smoking, especially those patients who feel frustrated by not being
able to quit.
In addition to smoking cessation programs, this study shows
that smoking reduction programs may have the potential to improve health and
may be a stepping stone towards quitting. For the larger healthcare system,
smoking reduction programs should be designed, researched and implemented, possibly
in conjunction with existing cessation programs.
While this is a single study, the results provide evidence
that any reduction in smoking may improve health. Although quitting is the best
option, for those who currently smoke, these new findings provide a second
option to improve health throughout a lifetime.
Adam Vaughan, MPH, MS is a PhD student in epidemiology at
Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
Reference: Gerber, Y. et al. Smoking Reduction at Midlife
and Lifetime Mortality Risk in Men: A Prospective Cohort Study. American
Journal of Epidemiology. 2012;175(10):1006–1012
