The Benefits Of Quitting Smoking Now, Reduce The Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease

Stop Smoking (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Cigarettes can increase the risk of non-communicable diseases, namely cardiovascular disease due to narrowing or blockage of blood vessels in the heart. Therefore the decision to stop smoking will reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Cardiologist at Harapan Kita Heart Vessel Hospital, Dr. Ade Meidian Ambari, Sp.JP, explained that cigarettes are responsible for 10 percent of the total cases of cardiovascular disease.

He also cites data from the World Health Organization (WHO) which states that cardiovascular disease is the main factor in death globally because it causes 17.9 million deaths every year.

"From the perspective of cardiology prevention, this is a problem," he said in a statement quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 7.

Currently, according to him, the number of smokers in Indonesia has reached 65 million. With this very large number, Ade suggested that smokers immediately stop smoking to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

"About a year or two after quitting smoking, the risk decreases or in the long term reduces the risk of heart failure," he said.

Alternative Products

Former Director of Policy Research and Cooperation of the World Health Organization, Tikki Pangestu in the discussion said that the problem of smoking must be resolved in various ways, one of which is using alternative methods for cigarette addicts who have difficulty quitting.

Tikki pointed out that the UK has succeeded in reducing the number of smokers thanks to alternative methods. He cites a report in The England Journal of Medicine which states that there are 20 thousand people quit smoking in the UK every year.

The effectiveness of alternative methods is also shown through a survey published by the British Statistics Agency. Based on the survey results, the number of smokers has decreased from 14.4 percent in 2018 to 14.1 percent in 2019. The UK smoking rate is now 6.9 million, with 3.8 million male smokers and 3.1 million female smokers.

"So this is quite convincing evidence for the effectiveness of this product," he said.

According to him, alternative products have implemented the concept of risk reduction and based on a number of studies, alternative tobacco products are able to reduce the risk by 90 percent - 95 percent than burned conventional cigarettes.

"The product is important as a potential aid to help people quit smoking," he stressed. "There must be political will and commitment taking into account economic and social factors."

Manila Hospital Cardiology Senior Consultant, Rafael R. Castillo, said alternative tobacco was used as an alternative to smoking cessation, even though the product was not completely risk-free.

According to him, replacing smoking with alternative tobacco products creates a greater chance of completely quitting.

“The product can be considered as a solution for heavy smokers. The use of this product also showed a significant reduction in heart rate compared to cigarettes," he explained.