Giving up smoking can add years to the life expectancy of even people who already have heart disease, according to a new research report.
A study by scientists in the Netherlands found that quitting tobacco was as effective at improving outcomes as taking key medications.
Released at a conference in Slovenia this month, it showed that the benefits of stopping smoking were “even greater than we realised”, according to the study’s author, Dr Tinka Van Trier, of Amsterdam University Medical Centre.
"Our study shows that kicking the habit appears to be as effective as taking three medications for preventing heart attacks and strokes in those with a prior heart attack or procedure to open blocked arteries. Patients could gain nearly five years of a healthy life,” Dr Van Trier told Newswise, a science news service.
The research, presented at the annual conference of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology, was based on data from nearly 1,000 smokers who had suffered a heart attack or undergone bypass surgery or a stent implantation.
Some individuals had experienced a heart attack and had an operation.
Dr Van Trier said this group of people, all aged at least 45 and of whom nearly a quarter were women, were especially at risk of having another heart attack.
The patients had had an operation or a heart attack an average of 1.2 years ago and were on drugs, such as statins, to help reduce heart-related health risks.
The researchers used a computer model called Smart-Reach, developed in Western Europe, to estimate how long the patients would live if they gave up smoking.
They also modelled the length of time the patients would live if they continued to smoke but took three additional medications, including one to lower cholesterol levels.
Quitting smoking versus taking medicines
Individuals who took the extra drugs but carried on smoking were estimated to gain an additional 4.83 years of life.
But those who quit tobacco had an increase in life expectancy almost as great – 4.81 years – even without taking the other medications.
The findings indicate that giving up smoking was “a very important step towards adding healthy years to one’s lifetime”, Dr Van Trier said.
"Smoking cessation remains a cornerstone of preventing heart attacks and strokes and improving overall health at any time, including after a heart attack and at any age.
“We know that cigarette smoking is responsible for 50 per cent of all avoidable deaths in smokers, of which half are due to cardiovascular disease.”
In reality, the extra years gained from giving up smoking may be even greater than indicated by the study, because the modelling did not take into account how quitting reduces the risk of other conditions, such as respiratory diseases or cancer, Dr Van Trier said.
According to the American Cancer Society, a smoker’s risk of coronary heart disease – a potentially fatal narrowing or blockage of the blood vessels supplying the heart – approaches that of a non-smoker 15 years after quitting.
Heart disease is the largest single cause of death in the UAE, accounting for about a third of deaths in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, with poor diet and low levels of exercise key risk factors.
Dr Davinder Pal Singh, a cardiologist at NMC Royal Hospital at Dubai Investments Park, said that smokers who already had heart disease would reduce their risk of a subsequent heart attack if they gave up smoking.
He said the longer a person had given up smoking, the greater the health benefits, with the risk of strokes and lung cancer getting closer to those of non-smokers after longer periods without tobacco.
"It’s going to benefit [a patient] to a very large extent if you quit smoking for at least two years,” he said.
“The effects start even after six months.
“In addition to heart disease, there are many other cancers – lung, bladder, kidney, pancreas – that have quite a large association with smoking. By cutting down smoking you lower your risk of cancer.”
One study found that as many as 42 per cent of Emirati men are smokers, with dokha tobacco and a medwakh pipe – considered even more harmful to health than cigarettes – being popular.
The UAE authorities continue to make efforts to cut down on smoking, such as the introduction, in October 2017, of a 100 per cent tax on tobacco.
Heart disease is the biggest cause of mortality globally, accounting for nearly 18 million of the approximately 55 million deaths that occur annually around the world. About four fifths of these deaths are the result of strokes or heart attacks.
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Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Habib El Qalb
Assi Al Hallani
(Rotana)
Ferrari
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
EGYPT SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ahmed El Shennawy, Mohamed El Shennawy, Mohamed Abou-Gabal, Mahmoud Abdel Rehem "Genesh"
Defenders: Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Hegazi, Omar Gaber, Ali Gazal, Ayman Ahsraf, Mahmoud Hamdy, Baher Elmohamady, Ahmed Ayman Mansour, Mahmoud Alaa, Ahmed Abou-Elfotouh
Midfielders: Walid Soliman, Abdallah El Said, Mohamed Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan, Amr Warda, Nabil Emad
Forwards: Ahmed Ali, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, Ahmed "Kouka" Hassan.
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Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
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Transmission: 9-speed auto
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Our family matters legal consultant
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Palestine and Israel - live updates
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The biog
Name: James Mullan
Nationality: Irish
Family: Wife, Pom; and daughters Kate, 18, and Ciara, 13, who attend Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS)
Favourite book or author: “That’s a really difficult question. I’m a big fan of Donna Tartt, The Secret History. I’d recommend that, go and have a read of that.”
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
