Ex-Smokers Healthier Despite Weight Gain

Gaining weight after quitting smoking won’t reduce the benefits of quitting for your heart, a new study finds. People often gain a few pounds after they quit smoking. Some cite that as a fear that keeps them from quitting. The new study included more than 3,200 adults. They were part of a long-running heart-health study. More than half of those who smoked quit during the 27 years of the study. In all, 631 people had a heart attack, stroke, clogged leg arteries or heart failure, or died of related causes. These problems occurred only half as often in former smokers as in smokers. And that benefit was not reduced among people who gained weight after they quit. Typically, people gained about 5 to 10 pounds. These figures apply to people without diabetes. The trend was similar among people with diabetes.