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More reason to quit smoking

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-19 12:53

Just weeks after quitting smoking, women show major reductions in several markers of inflammation associated with heart disease risk, new research shows.

The findings point the way to a strategy for encouraging people at risk of heart disease to kick the habit, the study's authors say.

Smoking is known to promote inflammation, while quitting cuts the risk of developing and dying from heart and lung disease, Dr Christine N Metz of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, New York, and her colleagues write in the medical journal Chest. However, it's unknown whether benefits are seen immediately after a person quits.