Low-intensity smoking shown to be linked to risk of early death

People who smoke even casually may still be increasing their risk of premature death, according to a new study.

Research carried out by the US National Cancer Institute has indicated that individuals who consistently smoke an average of less than one cigarette per day over their lifetime have a 64 percent higher risk of earlier death than those who never smoke.

This rate increases to 87 percent among people who smoke between one and ten cigarettes a day, with a particularly strong link between smoking and lung cancer identified.

The risk of early death was lower among former low-intensity smokers compared to those who were had not given up the habit, with the chances of premature mortality falling according to how early they stopped smoking.

Analysing data from more than 290,000 adults, the research shows that there is, in effect, no level of smoking that can be considered safe.

The study's lead author Dr Maki Inoue-Choi, of the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the US National Cancer Institute, said: "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."

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