No matter how many cigarettes you smoke in a day, lighting up the first thing in the morning significantly increases the levels of nicotine and other tobacco toxins in your bloodstream. When a person's nicotine metabolite levels increase in their blood, their risk of developing lung cancer also increases.
The levels of cotinine can reflect the risk of lung cancer, and smokers who light up immediately upon waking up greatly increase their risk. These individuals may require more intensive interventions to help them quit smoking.
【Research Study】
I have many smoker friends around me who are accustomed to smoking a cigarette first thing in the morning, while shouting, "A cigarette in the morning, a good day ahead." My friend Lao Zhang is like this. He is a taxi driver and has to wake up early every day. When he wakes up in the morning, he first searches for a cigarette, relying on a puff of smoke. According to the latest research, smoking immediately upon waking up significantly increases the risk of smoking-related lung cancer.
After smoking, the concentration of cotinine, the metabolite of nicotine that our bodies absorb, is a good indicator of the risk of developing lung cancer.
Previous studies have shown that there is a significant difference in cotinine levels in the body depending on the type of cigarettes smoked. Researchers speculate that besides the frequency of smoking, there may be other behaviors that affect nicotine dependence and cotinine levels, such as smoking a cigarette immediately upon waking up.
Researchers recruited 252 daily smokers for the study and analyzed their smoking habits, including the number of cigarettes smoked and the time of smoking, while also measuring the levels of cotinine in their blood plasma and urine.
【Results】
People who smoke a pack a day have cotinine levels in their blood plasma that are 74 times higher than others, ranging from 16 micrograms/ml to 1180 micrograms/ml.
Two types of nicotine dependence were observed among smokers: "low" nicotine dependence and "high" nicotine dependence.
People with "low" nicotine dependence light up their first cigarette half an hour after waking up. People with "high" nicotine dependence light up their first cigarette in less than half an hour after waking up.
Researchers believe that the time of the first cigarette is a powerful predictor of the level of nicotine absorption after smoking.
Many people know that smoking is unhealthy, but quitting smoking is not that simple. If you can't quit smoking immediately, start by quitting the first cigarette after waking up.
