Any Level of Smoking Promotes Heart Risks

You may think that having an occasional cigarette in a social setting is less harmful for your heart than smoking a pack a day, but a new study suggests otherwise. Researchers reviewed health data concerning nearly 40,000 people in the United States and found that both social smokers and regular smokers have double the risk for hypertension and more than a 50% greater risk for high cholesterol—both of which are major contributors to cardiovascular disease— when compared with nonsmokers. American Journal of Health Promotion, May 2017