Morning cigarette addicts have to worry about. The conclusions of two studies published in the journal Cancer have shown the increased risk of developing lung, head or neck cancer depending on whether you smoke your first cigarette when you get up or an hour after: those who are early in the morning have a 79% greater risk of getting cancer lungs than those who wait at least an hour before toasting one.
Similar results observed for head and neck cancer: smokers who prefer to wait half an hour after waking up to smoke their first cigarette have a 60% increased risk of developing head and neck cancer. It is 40% for people who wait more than half an hour.
The earlier you smoke, the more harmful it is to health, these two studies seem to demonstrate. In other words, the way of “consuming” one’s cigarette would play as much a role as the quantity of cigarettes consumed.
The amount of nicotine in question
How to explain this state of affairs? Compulsive smokers have higher levels of nicotine in their bodies, and may be more addicted than smokers who wait longer to smoke.
Paradoxically, these results come as no surprise. In 2009, a study had already looked at the risks of developing cancer after the time of the first cigarette. The result was also clear: the earlier the first cigarette was smoked in the day, the more the amount of cotinine in the blood increased. Cotinine being a derivative of nicotine produced by the body and causing risks of lung cancer.
Rather than waiting for new, not very reassuring studies reminiscent of the harmfulness of cigarettes, read our six misconceptions about tobacco and our tips for quitting smoking.
