Smokers have higher lifetime risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm

This study adds to the literature by reporting AAA lifetime risk from a community-based cohort with long follow-up,” Tang told Reuters Health by email. The researchers used data from more than 15,000 middle-aged people who were at risk of developing AAA based on an initial assessment between 1987 and 1989. The participants made three subsequent visits for exams and assessments through 1998. Nearly 6,000 people were still alive between 2011 and 2013 and underwent an ultrasound exam at a fifth assessment visit then. Over the 22-year follow-up period, there were 590 diagnosed, ruptured or repaired AAAs. In 2011, the ultrasound scans found 75 more cases that had gone undetected. Based on these results, researchers calculated that for participants who began the study, 1 in 17 would go on to develop an AAA, including 1 out of every 9 current smokers and 1 out of 12 former smokers. People who had quit smoking within eight years of the final assessment in 2001-2003 had higher risk of aneurysm than those who had quit earlier, according to the results in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. “An AAA is a slow and gradually expanding process, and most commonly goes without any symptoms,” said Dr. Otto Stackelberg of the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden, who was not part of the new study. “These results should not be interpreted as if it is OK to start smoking since the risk of AAA eventually decreases anyway if you quit,” Stackelberg told Reuters Health by em...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Vascular Source Type: news