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If
you
quit
smoking
and
gain
weight,
it
may
seem
like
you're
trading
one
set
of
health
problems
for
another.
But
a
new
U.S.
study
finds
you're
still
better
off
in
the
long
run.
Compared
with
smokers,
even
the
quitters
who
gained
the
most
weight
had
at
least
a
50%
lower
risk
of
dying
prematurely
from
heart
disease
and
other
causes,
the
Harvard-led
study
found.
The
study
is
impressive
in
its
size
and
scope
and
should
put
to
rest
any
myth
that
there
are
prohibitive
weight-related
health
consequences
to
quitting
cigarettes,
said
Dr.
William
Dietz,
a
public
health
expert
at
George
Washington
University.
'The
paper
makes
pretty
clear
that
your
health
improves,
even
if
you
gain
weight,'
said
Dietz,
who
was
not
involved
in
the
research.
'I
don't
think
we
knew
that
with
the
assurance
that
this
paper
provides.'
The
New
England
Journal
of
Medicine
published
the
study
Wednesday.
The
journal
also
published
a
Swedish
study
that
found
quitting
smoking
seems
to
be
the
best
thing
diabetics
can
do
to
cut
their
risk
of
dying
prematurely.
The
nicotine
in
cigarettes
can
suppress
appetite
and
boost
metabolism.
Many
smokers
who
quit
and
don't
step
up
their
exercise
find
they
eat
more
and
gain
weight
typically
less
than
10
pounds
(4.5
kilograms),
but
in
some
cases
three
times
that
much.
A
lot
of
weight
gain
is
a
cause
of
the
most
common
form
of
diabetes,
a
disease
in
which
blood
sugar
levels
are
higher
than
normal.
Diabetes
can
lead
to
problems
including
blindness,
nerve
damage,
heart
and
kidney
disease
and
poor
blood
flow
to
the
legs
and
feet.
In
the
U.S.
study,
researchers
tracked
more
than
170,000
men
and
women
over
roughly
20
years,
looking
at
what
they
said
in
health
questionnaires
given
every
two
years.
The
people
enrolled
in
the
studies
were
all
health
professionals,
and
did
not
mirror
current
smokers
in
the
general
population,
who
are
disproportionately
low-income,
less-educated
and
more
likely
to
smoke
heavily.
The
researchers
checked
which
study
participants
quit
smoking
and
followed
whether
they
gained
weight
and
developed
diabetes,
heart
disease
or
other
conditions.
Quitters
saw
their
risk
of
diabetes
increase
by
22%
in
the
six
years
after
they
kicked
the
habit.
An
editorial
in
the
journal
characterized
it
as
‘a
mild
elevation'
in
the
diabetes
risk.
Studies
previously
showed
that
people
who
quit
have
an
elevated
risk
of
developing
diabetes,
said
Dr.
Qi
Sun,
one
the
study's
authors.
He
is
a
researcher
at
the
Harvard-affiliated
Brigham
and
Women's
Hospital.
But
that
risk
doesn't
endure,
and
it
never
leads
to
a
higher
premature
death
rate
than
what
smokers
face,
he
said.
'Regardless
of
the
amount
of
weight
gain,
quitters
always
have
a
lower
risk
of
dying'
prematurely,