People who start smoking in childhood face three times the risk of cardiovascular disease. But quitting early dramatically lowers that danger—by up to 90% if done before age 40, according to leading researchers.
In late 2019, global smoking rates showed modest progress. The World Health Organization (WHO) targets a 30% reduction by 2025, with the worldwide smoker proportion dropping from 27% to 20% between 2000 and 2016.
Youth smoking remains a concern, with 11% of 13- to 15-year-olds using tobacco. A research letter in the Journal of the American Heart Association (October 28, 2020) highlights that those who start before age 15 face the highest risks—but quitting before 40 can largely offset this.
"The age at which a person starts smoking is an important and often overlooked factor, and those who start at a young age are at particularly high risk of dying prematurely from cardiovascular disease," the study notes.
Researchers analyzed data from nearly 400,000 U.S. adults: 58% never smokers, 23% former smokers, and 19% current smokers. Among smokers, 2% began before age 10 and 19% between 10 and 14. Those starting before 15 were three times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than never smokers.
The good news? Early quitting slashes risks significantly. Former smokers who quit between 15 and 34 had risks similar to never smokers. Quitting at 35-44 multiplies risk by 1.2; at 55-64, by 1.7. Overall, stopping before 40 cuts the risk by 90%.
In France, 25% of adults smoke daily. Public Health France's Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (May 2020) linked 21% of cardiovascular hospital stays (over 250,000 in 2015) to smoking. Dropping prevalence to 20% could prevent more than 25,000 admissions yearly.
