Smoking Cessation Linked to Lower Risk for Atrial Fibrillation

FRIDAY, Sept. 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Smoking cessation is associated with a reduced risk for atrial fibrillation (AF), according to a study published online Sept. 11 in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.

Justin T. Teraoka, M.D., from the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues examined the association between smoking cessation and AF risk among 146,772 U.K. Biobank participants with serial smoking assessments. The risk for AF was compared for former smokers at baseline and those who quit smoking during the study with current smokers.

Overall, 25.5, 72.0, and 2.7 percent of the participants currently smoked, were former smokers, and quit smoking during the study, respectively. The researchers found that 11,214 (7.6 percent) participants developed AF during a mean of 12.7 ± 2.0 years of follow-up. The adjusted risk for AF was significantly lower in former smokers and those who quit during the study compared with current smokers (hazard ratios, 0.87 and 0.82, respectively).

“These findings suggest that the heightened risk of AF among smokers is not immutable and that smoking cessation may help reduce the risk of developing this important and common arrhythmia,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to InCarda.

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