`I HAVE cut down, doctor.` This is the standard response I get from smokers when as a physician I advise them to quit smoking.

A research published in a medical journal recently shows that no matter how much you cut down on the habit, inhaling any amount of cigarette smoke is bad for one`s health. The latest research has found that smoking just one cigarette a day could drastically increase the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.

Smoking socially or occasionally, is generally seen as `safer` especially compared to people who smoke a pack a day or more. A man who smokes one cigarette a day has a 48 per cent higher risk of heart disease and 25pc higher risk of stroke compared to people who have never smoked. For women, the bad news is even worse, with a 57pc and 31pc higher risk for heart disease and stroke, respectively, compared to non-smokers.

When controlling for confounding factors, such as age, the risk is even higher for men, there`s a 74pc and 30pc higher risk for heart disease and stroke, respectively.

For women it`s 119pc and 46pc! The study shows that although cutting down has clear benefits, particularly for risk of cancer, the reduction in cardiovascular disease risk is not as large as smokers might expect. Smokers must understand that no safe level of smoking exists for cardiovascular disease. Smokers need to quit completely rather than cut down.

In Pakistan, approximately 124,000 people die each year from smoking-related diseases. Our health professionals as well as electronic and print media must educate the public on the health risks associated with smoking.

Javaid A. Khan Karachi