Smoking 1 to 4 cigarettes per day may make it less likely for you to develop a life-threatening disease but it holds the potential to drive you to get addicted to nicotine, which in long-term makes it deadlier.
While the youngsters of today consider themselves as casual smokers puffing only a few cigarettes every day, a US study stresses that this can too, get you nicotine addiction.
The study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine warns light smokers to avail treatment before things get worse.
A professor at Pennsylvania State University in the US said Jonathan Foulds said, “In the past, some considered that only patients who smoke around 10 cigarettes per day or more were addicted, and I still hear that sometimes.”
He added saying, “But this study demonstrates that many lighter smokers, even those who do not smoke every day, can be addicted to cigarettes. It also suggests that we need to be more precise when we ask about cigarette smoking frequency.”
To arrive at the conclusion, the researchers of the study evaluated the data present with the National Institute of Health, US, along with over 6,700 smokers. These volunteers were also examined thoroughly to ensure that they fall in line with the 11 criteria given in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5)’s 5th edition listed out for tobacco use disorders.
Through this, it was found that 85% of those who smoked daily were either addicted mildly, moderately or severely to nicotine and its forms. It also highlighted that amongst the casual smokers, close to 2/3rds were addicted to nicotine, giving weight to the necessity of them to consider getting treatment.
“Surprisingly, almost two-thirds of those smoking only one to four cigarettes per day were addicted, and around a quarter of those smoking less than weekly were addicted,” Mr. Foulds said.
The nicotine addiction, invariably, increased with the increase in the frequency of smoking, meaning that the number of cigarettes being smoked per day was directly proportional to the severity of the addiction.
35% of the light smokers (1-4 per day) and 74% of heavy smokers (more than 21 per day) were either moderately or severely addicted with cigarettes.
“Lighter smoking is correctly perceived as less harmful than heavy smoking, but it still carries significant health risks,” said Jason Oliver, Assistant Professor at Duke University in the US.
Over 8 million people die every year due to smoking, which is surprisingly not caused due to any virus but the human’s own actions. Out of these, nearly 7 million are actual smokers while close to 1.2 million are passive smokers, those who inhale the fumes of smoke while sitting in the vicinity of a smoker.
Despite the statutory warning printed on the box carrying the stack of cigarettes, an increasing number of such packs are being sold every day. Tobacco is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular problems as 1 out of 3 deaths due to CVS failure is due to smoking.
