Peril of 1 cigarette a day

JUST one cigarette a day is enough to raise your risk of heart disease and stroke by almost 50 per cent.

Researchers found those who smoke once a day expose themselves to half the risk of heart disease and stroke seen in people who smoke 20 cigarettes.

After reviewing 140 studies, University College London warned that ‘no safe level of smoking exists for cardiovascular disease’. Men who smoked one cigarette a day had 46 per cent of the increased risk of heart disease seen in people who smoked 20, with their stroke risk at 41 per cent. Just one cigarette also raised their risk of coronary heart disease by 48 per cent compared with non-smokers, with women seeing their risk more than double, said the BMJ.