Smoking and stroke: the more you smoke the more you stroke

Abstract

Cigarette smoking is a well-established risk factor for all forms of stroke. While both the general public and the global healthcare system are aware of the vascular risks associated with smoking, the prevalence of tobacco use has remained largely unchanged over the last quarter of a century. Approximately one in five US adults are classified as regular smokers, with the initiation of smoking typically occurring during the teenage years. Although the increased risk of stroke associated with smoking is generally acknowledged, it is less well recognized that considerable scientific evidence implicates a strong dose–response relationship between smoking and stroke risk. In this article, we summarize the literature regarding smoking-related stroke risk, the dose–response relationship, and the costs of this detrimental habit to both the individual and society as a whole.

Keywords::

• cigarettes
• dose
• risk
• smoking
• stroke
• tobacco

Financial & competing interests disclosure

John W Cole was supported in part by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Baltimore, Office of Research and Development, Medical Research Service; the Department of Veterans Affairs Stroke Research Enhancement Award Program; the University of Maryland General Clinical Research Center (grant no. M01 RR 165001); the General Clinical Research Centers Program; the National Center for Research Resources, the NIH (grant no. R01 NS045012-05) and an American Heart Association Beginning Grant-in-Aid (grant no. 0665352U). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.