Bad At Any Age

Youth offers no protection against the health risks of cigarettes. Smokers under 40 are five times as likely to have a heart attack as their nonsmoking peers, according to an analysis of World Health Organization data from 21 countries. And about 80% of all people ages 35 to 39 who have had heart attacks were smokers, say the authors of a study in Tobacco Control. Smoking in this age group was judged to be the cause of 65% of the nonfatal heart attacks in men and 55% of those in women.