“Drinking and smoking narrows arteries by seventeen”
ENGLAND - Teenagers who drink and smoke even moderate amounts can suffer stiffening arteries by the age of seventeen, a new study has found.
Adolescents are increasing their risk of heartdisease and stroke in later life by consuming amounts traditionally associated youthful experimentation, scientists warned. They called on the government to introduce school programmes warning teenagers that drinking the equivalent of two or three pints in a day may put then on the path of potentially fatal illness. However, the study by University College London also indicates that if teenagers stop drinking and smoking during adolescence, their arteries can return to normal. Arteriosclerosis causes the blood vessels to narrow which in turn can reduce the flow of blood to the heart muscle. The build-up of plaque in the arteries can eventually trigger a heartattack or stroke.
Researchers analysed data from 1,266 adolescents from Children of the 90s, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), over a fiveyear period between 2004 and 2008.
Participants provided details of their smoking and drinking habits at thirteen, fiftheen and seventeen. Aortic stiffening was then assessed using a Vicorder device to measure carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity - the speed at which the arterial pulse propagates through the circulatory system. Teenagers in the high intensity smoking group had a relative increase of 3.7 per cent in the stiffening of their arteries - measured by mean increase in pulse wave velocity - compared with those in the low smoking intensity group. Teenagers showed a preference for beer over wine or spirits, and those who tended to binge drink - more than ten drinks in a typical drinking day, with the aim of becoming drunk - had a relative increase of 4.7 percent in the stiffening of their arteries compared with light intensity drinkers. Meanwhile participants in the high smoking and heavy drinking intensity group had a relative increase of 10.8 percent in the stiffening of arteries compared with those who had never smoked and low alcohol consumers. Dr Marietta Charakida, part of the research team, said: “Injury to the blood vessels occurs very early in life as a result of smoking and drinking and the two together are even more damaging.” “Governments and policymakers need to devise and implement effective educational strategies, starting in childhood, to discourage children and teenagers from adopting smoking and bad drinking habits.” (Telegraph.Co.Uk)