A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF CHANGES IN SMOKING-HABITS ON BLOOD-COUNT, SERUM-LIPIDS AND LIPOPROTEINS, BODY-WEIGHT AND BLOOD-PRESSURE IN OCCUPATIONALLY ACTIVE MEN - THE ISRAELI CORDIS STUDY

In cross-sectional studies, significant differences in cardiovascular disease risk factors have been observed between smokers and non-smoker s. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of smoking initiat ion and cessation on these factors in a population-based prospective s tudy. 987 male employees in Israeli industry underwent health screenin g in the CORDIS study and were re-examined an average of two and a hal f years later. We examined the assocations between smoking initiation and cessation and changes in blood count, serum lipids and lipoprotein s, body weight and blood pressure. After adjusting for potential confo unders, smoking cessation was associated with significant decreases in leukocyte count, hemoglobin and hematocrit whereas smoking initiation resulted in increased leuckocyte count. There were moderate, nonsigni ficant increases in both serum HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) and LDL-C, and a slight decrease in serum triglycerides. Blood pressure remained esse ntially unchanged, despite the fact that smoking cessation resulted in a significant weight increase and smoking initiation in a significant decline in weight. These findings demonstrate that changes in smoking habits result in fairly rapid changes in blood count and body weight, but have much smaller effects on serum lipids and blood pressure.