“Smoking as few as five days per month can lead to shortness of breath and coughing. And smoking one to four cigarettes per days can increase your risk of heart disease and cancer." Light smokers also have a higher risk of lung cancer than nonsmokers.
Conclusions Smoking only about one cigarette per day carries a risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke much greater than expected: around half that for people who smoke 20 per day. No safe level of smoking exists for cardiovascular disease.
Because there is no safe level of exposure to carcinogens, cancer can develop even with very low levels of exposure, 34 including 1–3 cigarettes per day 35 and non-daily smoking.
However, even smoking a single cigarette daily can pose health risks, as there is no safe level of tobacco use. Studies have shown that even low levels of smoking can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and other health issues.
Consistent with these results, a recent study of low-rate daily smokers (1–4 cig/day) found a relative risk for all cause mortality of 1.6 (95%CI 1.3–1.9) in men and a relative risk of 1.5 (95% CI 1.2–1.8) in women.
There are no generally agreed-upon definitions of heavy smoking, but a cumulative dose of 73,000–146,000 cigarettes, which corresponds to 20 cigarettes per day over 10–20 years, or 10–20 pack-years, is associated with a clinically relevant increase in morbidity [1,2,3].
The most effective way for smokers to reduce their chance of a heart attack is to kick the habit. Risk can be reduced further by being physically active, eating a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and controlling blood cholesterol and blood pressure.
Although both of these behaviors can negatively affect people's health, experts advise that smoking is generally worse for health than drinking alcohol. Quitting smoking and stopping alcohol consumption can be beneficial for health and reduce the risk of related health conditions.
Over time, you will notice many benefits of quitting, including increased lung capacity. When you quit smoking, dormant cells in the lungs will start to replace the damaged lung cells lining your airways. This leads to gradual healing and regeneration of your lungs, as well as a decreased risk of lung cancer.
Light smoking is defined as smoking five or fewer cigarettes per day. It can also mean skipping cigarettes some days and picking one up occasionally. “Light smokers may not consider their occasional habit as harmful. They may not even consider themselves smokers. But no cigarette comes without risk,” notes Dr. Lee.
The smokers had 15% higher total testosterone levels and 13% higher free testosterone levels when compared to men who never smoked in their lives. Even more surprising was that increasing the number of cigarettes per day appeared to simultaneously increase both total and free testosterone levels.
1: Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it's still not safe. E-cigarettes heat nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic.
This study has examined the risk of developing of COPD in a general population throughout an observation period of 25 years. Our estimates indicate that, after 25 years of smoking, at least 25% of smokers without initial disease will have clinically significant COPD and 30–40% will have any COPD.
Conclusions: In both sexes, smoking 1–4 cigarettes per day was associated with a significantly higher risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease and from all causes, and from lung cancer in women.
Indeed, men who smoked > 20 cigarettes per day experienced a 19% reduction in sperm concentration compared with nonsmokers, even after controlling for age, recent fevers, and duration of abstinence as well as diseases in reproductive organs.
Smoking even a small amount can cause damage to your body. This is why there's very little, if any, health benefit from cutting down the number of cigarettes you smoke. Quitting smoking entirely has proven health benefits. Cutting down can, however, be a good way to get you started on the road to stopping long-term.
Smoking just one cigarette a day is dangerous
Even smoking 1 cigarette a day can make your blood sticky and increase your risk of blood clots, to a similar level of that of a heavier smoker. These blood clots can block blood flow, causing heart attacks and strokes.
Removing tar from smoker lungs is a challenging process, but it's possible to reduce the damage and promote lung health. Unfortunately, there's no magic procedure to completely remove tar, but quitting smoking is the first step towards healing.
Results. Life expectancy at age 55 differed by 1.4 years among groups defined in terms of BMI, 4.0 years by smoking status, and 3.0 years by alcohol consumption. Years lived with disability differed by 2.8 years according to BMI, 0.2 years by smoking and 1.6 by alcohol consumption.
This shows that smokers report worse mood than non-smokers acutely over the course of a day (Adan and Sanchez-Turet, 2000) and lower happiness levels for life in general (Koivumaa-Honkanen et al., 2003), irrespective of their background (Grant et al., 2009).
The mutations that lead to lung cancer had been considered to be permanent, and to persist even after quitting. But the surprise findings, published in Nature, show the few cells that escape damage can repair the lungs. The effect has been seen even in patients who had smoked a pack a day for 40 years before giving up.
But even just a few cigarettes a month may be harmful. A study published in JAMA Network Open, an open-access medical journal of the American Medical Association, found that smoking six to 10 cigarettes a month—fewer than one a day—elevates your risk of getting cancer.
Smoking affects many aspects of your body, including your physical endurance. If you smoke, you get less oxygen in your heart, lungs and muscles. This reduces your physical fitness.