REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Quitting smoking is associated with a substantial reduction in risk of all-cause mortality among patients with CHD .
This 36 % risk reduction appears substantial compared with other secondary preventive therapies such as cholesterol lowering which have received greater attention in recent years .
The risk reduction associated with quitting smoking seems consistent regardless of differences between the studies in terms of index cardiac events , age , sex , country , and time period .
BACKGROUND Although the importance of smoking as a risk factor for coronary heart disease is beyond doubt , the speed and magnitude of risk reduction when a smoker with coronary heart disease quits are still subjects of debate .
OBJECTIVES To estimate the magnitude of risk reduction when a patient with CHD stops smoking .
Early discharge following acute myocardial infarction. Long-term follow-up of randomized patients.
Long-term follow-up was obtained on 138 patients who participated in a prospect i ve , r and omized study comparing two weeks with three weeks of hospitalization following uncomplicated acute myocardial infa rct ion . Follow-up information was available on 123 ( 89 % ) of all r and omized patients . The mean follow-up period was 35 months for those patients who died and 99 months for those who survived . No differences were found between the two groups with respect to survival , cardiac-related deaths , frequency or severity of angina pectoris , subsequent myocardial infa rct ion , incidence of congestive heart failure , number of ventricular aneurysms , or subsequent medical therapy . A significantly greater number of survivors in both groups stopped smoking and had a normal initial heart size than those who died . This long-term follow-up study further supports the conclusions of earlier short-term studies that two weeks of hospitalization is safe in patients with uncomplicated acute myocardial infa rct ion
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Quitting smoking is associated with a substantial reduction in risk of all-cause mortality among patients with CHD .
This 36 % risk reduction appears substantial compared with other secondary preventive therapies such as cholesterol lowering which have received greater attention in recent years .
The risk reduction associated with quitting smoking seems consistent regardless of differences between the studies in terms of index cardiac events , age , sex , country , and time period .
BACKGROUND Although the importance of smoking as a risk factor for coronary heart disease is beyond doubt , the speed and magnitude of risk reduction when a smoker with coronary heart disease quits are still subjects of debate .
OBJECTIVES To estimate the magnitude of risk reduction when a patient with CHD stops smoking .