Smokers Who Appear Healthy Risk Heart Attack, Study Shows

Smokers appear to run a higher-than-normal risk of having heart attacks even if they do not have other significant signs of heart disease, researchers said Tuesday.

Most of the 1.5 million heart attacks in the United States every year are caused or complicated by severe atherosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries that makes it easier for clots to form and block blood flow to the heart.

In as many as 150,000 heart attacks every year, however, there is no significant hardening of the arteries, and “the vast majority” of these patients are smokers, Dr. Michael Pecora of Emory University in Atlanta said.

“This syndrome . . . is predominantly found in young people who smoke,” Pecora told the American Heart Assn.’s national scientific meeting. “We strongly recommend that all these patients stop smoking--but then, my advice to anyone is to stop smoking.”

Pecora studied the cases of 48 heart attack victims who showed only slight narrowing of their arteries, compared to the more severe blockage usually found. The average age among the 29 men and 19 women was 45--relatively young for heart attacks. The youngest member of the group was 18.

Most Were Smokers

The majority of them--71%--were smokers.

An even higher percentage--78%--of the patients who were under 60 were smokers, Pecora said.

Previous studies have shown that smoking can contribute to the formation of a blood clot, and smoking is considered an aggravating factor in most heart attacks.

Pecora said the findings of his study indicated, however, that smoking also increases the risk of having a heart attack in people who otherwise may not have coronary artery disease.

“I don’t think we can definitely state from our data that smoking causes heart attacks in these patients, but smoking was the most common risk factor among them,” he said.