Alcohol drinking and smoking cause cardiovascular damage at a younger age

How does the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes affect young people??

Alcohol consumption and smoking are harmful to health and should be familiar to most people. Researchers have now found that alcohol and smoking can cause serious harm even in their teens. When young people smoke or drink alcohol, the arteries stiffen at the age of 17.

The researchers at University College London (UCL) found in their current research that alcohol consumption and smoking in adolescents leave their negative mark at the age of 17. When teenagers occasionally smoke or drink alcohol, at the age of 17, the arteries of those affected stiffen. The physicians published the results in the English-language journal "European Heart Journal".

Smoking and the consumption of alcohol can already cause damage to the heart of adolescents. (Image: Klaus Eppele / fotolia.com)

Smoking and alcohol consumption harm young people considerably

The effects of alcohol and smoking are already evident in the body of adolescents. A combination of high alcohol intake and smoking leads to even greater harm than the consumption of alcohol and smoking alone, the experts explain. When the teenagers stopped smoking and drinking again, their arteries returned to normal, the researchers report.

What is arterial vascular stiffness?

So-called arterial vascular stiffness indicates damage to the blood vessels. Such damage indicates an increased likelihood of heart and blood vessel problems later in life, such as heart attacks and strokes, the researchers explain.

Data from 1,266 adolescents were evaluated for the study

For their study, the researchers analyzed the data of 1,266 adolescents. These data came from the so-called Avon Longitudinal Study, which included parents and children and was conducted over a period of five years between 2004 and 2008. At the time of the study, participants, aged 13, 15 and 17, gave details of their smoking and drinking habits.

How did it affect alcohol consumption and smoking??

Adolescents from the high-intensity smoker group showed a relative increase of 3.7 percent in the stiffening of their arteries compared to participants from the group with low smoker intensity. Adolescents who wanted to get drunk and drink more than ten drinks a day showed a relative increase of 4.7 percent in the stiffening of their arteries. Participants from the group with high levels of smoke and heavy drinking had a relative increase in arterial stiffening of 10.8 percent compared to those who had never smoked and consumed low levels of alcohol, the authors explain.

One in five teenagers aged 17 is a smoker

Damage to the blood vessels as a result of smoking or alcohol consumption occurs very early in life. When people drink and smoke, this harms the blood vessels even more. Although studies have found that adolescents have generally smoked less in recent years, the results also show that about one in five teens at the age of 17 were already smokers. It was also noticeable that the children of smoking parents themselves started smoking more often. (As)