Is There A Safe Smoking Level? Latest Study Shows The Link Between Use of Few Cigarettes And Death Risks

By Christon Jervil Ligon - 10 Dec '16 08:09AM

Never mind the number of cigarettes consumed per day, smoking poses serious health risks that may even lead to death, according to a new study.

Researchers believe that their latest study could shed light to the question of whether there is such a thing as a safe smoking level. It turns out, there is none if the findings of the study, published in The Jama Network, is to be considered. Those people who are smoking fewer than one cigarette or one to 10 cigarettes on a daily basis have a higher risk of dying compared to those who are non-smokers, the study found.

It's Just Better to Quit Smoking Altogether Says The Experts

The concept of a risk-free level of exposure to tobacco smoke is not in accord with facts. The experts believe that people can avoid the health risks of smoking if they quit the habit completely, regardless of whether they use as few as one cigarette a day or fewer than 10, which the experts refer to as low-intensity smoking.

"The results of this study support health warnings that there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke," according to one of the lead author of the study, Maki Inoue-Choi, NBC News reported.

"Together, these findings indicate that smoking even a small number of cigarettes per day has substantial negative health effects and provide further evidence that smoking cessation benefits all smokers, regardless of how few cigarettes they smoke," she added.

Higher Risk of Smoking-Related Diseases For The Low-Intensity Smokers

The findings of the study suggest that those who are low-intensity smokers, who average fewer than 10 cigarettes per day, have a higher risk of developing a cardiovascular disease by 50 percent, and six times for the respiratory disease compared to those who don't smoke, wrote the NY Times.

Based on the data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost half a million people in the U.S. die from diseases related to smoking cigarettes a year. And, some people believe that low-intensity smoking is not detrimental to their health. This is the very reason the researchers felt the need to conduct such a research.