Smokers Suffer More Heart Bypass Complications: Study
CHICAGO (CBS) -- On this fifth anniversary of Illinois' statewide smoking ban, a new medical study comes up with yet another reason to kick the cigarette habit.
Another Reason To Quit Smoking
The research finds that heart bypass patients who had quit smoking even a year before their surgery, suffered complications that non-smokers didn't.
Dr. Shahab Ahkhter, of the University of Chicago, says, "All the risk factors that are important in contributing to a patient developing coronary artery disease are also important in developing bypass graft disease."
The study finds that even a year later, smoking triggered abnormal activity of enzymes in leg veins which reduced the effectiveness of heart bypass grafting surgery.
