Smoking does increase the chance of heart attack – but you can REVERSE the risk if you quit

Smoking is a known risk factor for heart disease - with smokers twice as likely to suffer a heart attack.

Puffing on your 20-a day, damages the lining of a smoker's arteries, causing a build up of fatty deposits which narrow the blood vessels.

But, a new study has found the damage goes further.

The addiction can also cause the muscles in the heart wall to become thicker, reducing the heart's ability to pump blood around a smoker's body.

As such, smokers are at greater risk of heart failure - and the longer you've smoked for, the greater your risk, scientists found.

But, the news isn't all bleak.

Experts said people who quit their habit can reverse the damage inflicted on their ticker.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, examined more than 4,000 participants with an average age of 75.7, who had no obvious signs of cardiovascular disease.

And while past studies have found a link between smoking, heart attacks and heart failure, the new research claims to have uncovered the clear mechanism by which tobacco increases the risk of heart failure.

Dr Wilson Nadruz, lead author of the new study, said: "This data suggests that smoking can independently lead to thickening of the heart and worsening of heart function, which may lead to a higher risk for heart failure, even in people who don't have heart attacks.

"In addiction, the more people smoke, the greater the damage to the heart's structure and function, which reinforces the recommendations stating that smoking is dangerous and should be stopped."

All of the study participants underwent a echocardiogram (ECG).

Even after researchers accounted for other factors including age, race, body mass index, blood pressure, diabetes and alcohol consumption, current smokers were found to have thicker heart walls, and reduced ability to pump blood.

That was when compared with nonsmokers and former smokers.

Dr Scott Solomon, senior author and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, said: "The good news is that former smokers had similar heart structure and function compared with never smokers.

"This suggests that the potential effects of tobacco on the myocardium might be reversible after smoking cessation."

The findings are published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.