In a prospective study in young people, associations between changes in smoking behavior and risk factors for cardiovascular disease were complex.

Objective: This study investigates how voluntary changes in tobacco consumption are related to changes in biological risk factors for cardiovascular disease in 21- to 36-year-old men and women.

Study Design And Setting: Data of the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study (AGAHLS) were used to study the association between voluntary changes in tobacco consumption and changes in biological risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) during 4-6 years of follow-up in 165 men and 195 women aged 21-36 years. We used multiple linear regression analyses with corrections for age and changes in other lifestyles.

Results: In both sexes, we found trends for a reduction in blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), body weight, and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and a rise in the ratio between total serum cholesterol (TC) and HDL-C (TC/HDL-C) with increasing tobacco consumption. Opposite trends were found with reducing tobacco consumption. In women, body weight, WHR, and waist circumference reduced significantly and independently with increasing tobacco consumption and increased significantly with decreasing tobacco consumption.

Conclusion: These results suggest that voluntary changes in tobacco consumption go together with both healthy and unhealthy changes in biological risk factors for CVD.