Quitting is better than cutting down when it comes to smoking

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Cutting back on smoking does not have any real benefit for health, according to a new study.
Quitting smoking is tough. So can smokers get some health benefit if they just cut down, rather than giving up altogether? Researchers in Norway now reveal that reducing the number of cigarettes smoked is not particularly helpful.

They collected data on more than 51,000 men and women aged between 20 and 34 who were screened twice at an interval of three to ten years during an average follow up of about 20 years. The participants were divided into groups depending on their smoking habits: never smokers, ex-smokers, quitters (during the study), moderate smokers (up to 14 a day), reducers (cutting consumption of more than 15 a day by more than half by the second check) and heavy smokers (more than 15 a day). There proved to be no significant difference in death rates from specific causes, including heart disease, between the reducers and the heavy smokers. There is an important point here - when counseling people about smoking cessation, doctors should be careful not to give the impression than cutting down will be of any use. Quitting smoking is the only way to improve health.

Source
Tobacco Control December 2006 Volume 15 pages 472-480