Smoking is an independent cause of heart disease. One possible link between smoking and heart
disease is that smokers’ arteries tend to be stiffer than the arteries of non-smokers,
even when controlling for other factors that might lead to this condition,
e.g., having a family hx of heart disease.
Physical activity is also independently related to heart disease - being
active reduces the risk and sitting around increases it - to be clear - sitting
around for extended periods of time (independent of how active you are
otherwise) is associated with the risk of heart disease.
New research from a small study of young men1 suggests
that smokers who engage in regular physical activity have less stiffness of large
arteries than smokers who do not engage in regular physical activity. However, the stiffness in active smokers was
worse than that of active non-smokers, and clearly the best option is not to
smoke.
When I read the study conclusion, I wondered how they measured smoking? For instance,
did they say, ‘in the last month have you had at least one cigarette’ and then
put all the yes's in the smoking group and the no's in the nonsmoking
group? If that were the case, I would
discount the validity of the conclusion because a person who is physically
active and otherwise healthy, might by chance, have had one cigarette in the
last month, whereas a physically inactive smoker might have smoked 2 packs a
day. That was not the case; the
researchers categorized smokers as those who had at least 8 to 10 cigarettes every
day during the past two years.
Unfortunately, there were other limitations of the study which give me
pause, though they do not diminish my faith in the benefits of exercise. In this small study, the inactive smokers
were different in other ways that could lead to heart disease, i.e., they were
older, had higher % body fat and smoked more cigarettes per day than the active smokers. In addition, the average age of the
participants in the study was 22 and artery stiffness and other markers of
heart disease usually occur later - even those associated with smoking.
Still: Physical Activity is the sine qua non of health and
experts recommend it for EVERYONE.
Smoking is the sine qua non of disease and experts recommend it for NO
ONE. I pride myself in being pro
exercise and anti-smoking; but I am not anti-smoker and so I got my dander up
when I read the following facebook post of one of my acquaintances.
Just saw the most bizarre
thing ever. Two older ladies walking through (x) Park at a decent pace (clearly
here for exercise) then one of them lights up a cigarette and they keep on
walking. Why bother exercising?!? At least she can enjoy her death stick in
some pretty scenery I guess
First, I one hundred
percent agree that the park should be tobacco free and I would be furious and
loud mouthed about someone smoking near me as I walked, ran or cycled, but that
is not what this facebooker was venting.
The person who started the post, and most of the people who
commented on it, wanted to know why the smoker was bothering to exercise - the
people speaking on the thread were clearly anti-smoker - if we followed their
line of reasoning that a smoker shouldn’t bother to exercise (because they were
killing themselves with the cigarettes), then smokers should also stop wearing
seat belts or looking both ways when crossing the street. Ridiculous, judgmental, nonfactual discourse.
For goodness sakes - EVERYONE should exercise and not all
smokers die from smoking related diseases…. maybe because they are otherwise
healthy or genetically protected – still, it is not smart to smoke, but it is
even less smart to do all the other reckless things on top of it.
Now, put those cigarettes down and go take a walk.
No comments:
Post a Comment