Smoking from a young age has harmed the heart by the time one reaches 24 years old.

An article with alarming conclusions was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). The foundation of this scientific work was built upon long-term observations from the "Children of the 90s" project, also known as the "Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children" (abbreviated as ALSPAC).

Among its participants, researchers selected nearly 2000 British schoolchildren, whose health was monitored from ages 10 to 24. Throughout the monitoring program, they underwent several medical examinations, including echocardiography. Data regarding their smoking status was also collected.

At the beginning of the observations at age 10, the percentage of smokers was 0.3%, but this figure significantly increased, reaching 24% by age 17 and 26.4% by age 24. Almost two-thirds of those who started smoking as children or teenagers continued to smoke into their young adulthood.

By analyzing the data on participants, researchers found that early smoking correlated with a higher likelihood of premature heart damage due to functional or structural disorders, such as hypertrophy of the heart muscle and left ventricular dysfunction.

The risk of encountering such issues by age 24 increased by 33-52%. The trend of having enlarged heart sizes by this age among smokers persisted even after adjusting for other risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, lipid metabolism disorders, and others.

Early smoking was also associated with other dangerous anomalies: thickening of the heart walls, increased left ventricular filling pressure, and elevated left ventricular mass index.

According to the lead author of the study — Andrew Agbaje, an associate professor at the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Child Health at the University of Eastern Finland — the article aims to draw the attention of government bodies and healthcare professionals to the issue of adolescent smoking and emphasize the importance of its prevention.

The researcher expressed concern over the growing prevalence of vaping among teenagers and suggested that the findings could be extrapolated to those using electronic cigarettes. Agbaje urged authorities to develop stricter measures to better protect children and teenagers from tobacco and its modern alternatives.