‘Light’ Smokers Still Face Increased Risk of Heart Disease: Study

Adults smoking as few as two cigarettes as day still had an elevated risk of heart disease, researchers found.

A file photo illustration shows a smoker with a pack of cigarettes outside a Sydney office building in Australia, May 5, 2017. Jason Reed/Reuters

People who are “light smokers” still have a higher risk of heart disease and death than people who do not smoke at all, according to a new study published on Nov. 18 by PLOS Medicine.

Adults who smoke two to five cigarettes a day were 50 percent more likely to have cardiovascular disease and 60 percent more likely to die from any cause than people who do not smoke, researchers with Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and other institutions said in the new paper.