Smokers who make the decision to quit will experience immediate health benefits, including a rapid reduction in their risk of atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), according to new research published in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology. The study, conducted by Dr. Gregory Marcus, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, offers compelling evidence for smokers to quit, showing that it’s never too late to avoid the damaging effects of smoking on heart health.

Dr. Marcus, the senior author of the study, emphasized that A-Fib can be prevented even in individuals who have smoked for years. "The findings provide a compelling new reason to show current smokers that it’s not too late to quit, and that having smoked in the past doesn’t mean you’re ‘destined’ to develop A-Fib," Marcus explained. "Even for the current and longtime smoker, A-Fib can still be avoided."

What is Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib)?

"There’s strong evidence that smoking increases the risk of A-Fib," Marcus said. "But the benefits of quitting smoking have been less certain." With this in mind, his team sought to determine whether quitting could significantly lower a person’s risk of developing A-Fib, or if the risk would remain the same.

The research team analyzed data from over 146,700 current and former smokers, tracking their smoking habits and health over a 12-year period using data from the UK Biobank database. The results were promising: former smokers had a 13% lower risk of developing A-Fib compared to current smokers, while those who quit during the study saw an 18% reduction in their risk.

"This is likely a testament to the potency of reducing atrial fibrillation risk pretty shortly after quitting," Marcus said in a statement from the American College of Cardiology.

The findings highlight the importance of quitting smoking, not only for general health but specifically for reducing the risk of serious heart conditions like A-Fib.

Tips for Quitting Smoking

Quitting smoking is one of the most effective ways to lower the risk of A-Fib and improve overall heart health. While it can be challenging, the benefits of quitting are clear and immediate. Here are some tips to help you quit smoking successfully:

1. Choose a specific date to quit smoking and stick to it. Prepare yourself mentally and physically for this change.

2. Reach out to family, friends, or a support group to help keep you accountable. Sharing your goals with others can provide encouragement.

3. Options like nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges can help ease withdrawal symptoms and reduce cravings.

4. Identify situations that make you want to smoke, such as stress or social gatherings, and find healthy ways to cope with them.

5. Regular exercise can help distract you from cravings and improve your mood during the quitting process.

6. Drinking water can help flush nicotine out of your system faster, reducing cravings.

7. Activities like yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises can help manage stress, a common trigger for smoking.

Quitting smoking offers immediate and significant benefits, particularly in reducing the risk of atrial fibrillation. The latest research provides smokers with more motivation to quit, showing that it's never too late to take control of their heart health.

Low-dose CT (LDCT) screening of people at high risk based on age and smoking history can reduce lung cancer deaths and advanced-stage disease, according to an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group.

Speaking to HealthandMe, Dr Abhishek Shankar of AIIMS New Delhi, the only Indian author among the 23 experts from 17 countries involved in the IARC review, said India needs to generate its own screening evidence.

The review was published in The New England Journal of Medicine as part of IARC WHO Handbook 21.

India Should Not Wait For A Perfect Model

Dr Shankar, a lung cancer specialist, said India needs to generate its own screening evidence while ensuring high-risk people have access to screening and follow-up care.

“India should not wait for a perfect screening model and there is a need to generate Indian evidence while ensuring that those at highest risk have access to lung cancer screening and care pathways for screen positive cases,” he said.

Dr Shankar is leading the Indian Lung Screening Trial (ILST), which is assessing risk-based lung cancer screening across 10 centers in India.

Also read: Never Smoked, Still Got Lung Cancer? Rare Gene Mutation Linked To Over 60x Risk

Who Should Undergo LDCT Screening?

The evidence mainly covers people aged 50 to 80 with a substantial smoking history, typically 20–30 pack-years or more. Studies involving former smokers generally included those who had quit within the previous 10–15 years.

In India, people aged 50 to 80 who have smoked at least 20 pack-years and are current smokers or quit within the past 15 years can contact ILST about screening under the trial.

“High-risk smokers should be encouraged to participate in organized screening rather than opportunistic CT scanning, with appropriate nodule management, follow-up and smoking-cessation support,” Dr Shankar said.

What Did The Trials Show?

Read More: World Lung Day: Dry Cough, Breathlessness May Not Always Be Asthma — Could It Be ILD?

In the US National Lung Screening Trial, LDCT was linked to a 16% lower relative risk of lung cancer death at seven years compared with chest X-rays. The European NELSON trial also found lower lung cancer mortality among men screened with LDCT at 10 years.

IARC classified LDCT as Group A, indicating established evidence that it reduces lung cancer mortality and stage III or IV disease. Chest X-rays, with or without sputum examination, were classified as Group C, as a mortality benefit could not be established.

What Are The Risks Of LDCT Screening?

LDCT is not meant for everyone. Across studies, false-positive rates ranged from 1% to 42%. Among those with false-positive results, 5% to 32% underwent an invasive procedure, with complications reported in 10% to 22% of those procedures.

The review also estimated that 3% to 26% of lung cancers detected in randomized trials could represent over-diagnosis.

The IARC group stressed that screening requires more than CT scans, including risk assessment, nodule management, follow-up, smoking-cessation support and adequate healthcare capacity.

“India has an opportunity to build an equitable, affordable, locally relevant lung cancer screening pathway and ILST can provide the evidence needed to guide that future,” Dr Shankar said.

Doctors may soon be able to determine a brain tumour’s type right during the surgery. Doctors remove a tissue sample during surgery to analyse the tumour. Patients undergoing surgery for brain tumour may not have to wait days or weeks to find out.

A new rapid genetic test being tested by the NHS in England promises to shorten the wait time drastically. The technology can find the precise type of brain tumour within about two hours, while the patient is still on the operating table.

Developed by researchers at the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, the test analyses the genetic code of a tumour sample rather than relying only on traditional microscopic examination.

Brain Tumour Diagnosis Takes A Long Time

Brain tumours are not connected to one single disease. There are more than 100 types, ranging from relatively slow-growing tumours to highly aggressive cancers. Knowing the exact type and characteristics of a tumour is important because treatment courses can differ significantly.

Traditionally, doctors take a sample during surgery and send it to a pathology laboratory. The tissue sample is then examined under a microscope. Finding out the tumour type usually takes weeks.

According to an NHS centre, the current average time for a brain tumour diagnosis can be around 26 days, while other reports have estimated up to almost eight weeks in some cases. In case of aggressive tumours, waiting period can be particularly difficult and longer.

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More About The New Test

The rapid genomic test works by analysing a small piece of the tumour which is taken during the surgery and sent to the laboratory, where its DNA is analysed using a shoebox-sized sequencing machine developed by Oxford Nanopore.

Inside the machine, DNA molecules pass through tiny pores. As they move through, the system reads their genetic information and uses the resulting genomic pattern to identify the tumour type.

Marking a significant jump in speed and time taken, the test can help doctors can receive detailed diagnosis during the operation itself instead of weeks.

Also read: Radiotherapy Cuts Risk Of Atypical Meningioma Recurrence By Nearly Half: Lancet Study

Promising Development In Brain Tumour Diagnosis

Not only this test reduces weeks, sometimes months of anxiety, it can also help surgeons make immediate decisions about how much tumour tissue to remove while protecting healthy brain tissue.

Some tumour types require different surgical approaches, and having molecular information immediately could help the surgeon take quick decisions.

A rapid diagnosis can also help patients to begin the appropriate treatment sooner and gain earlier access to clinical trials designed for specific tumour types.

The NHS is piloting the technology to determine how well rapid genomic testing works in routine clinical practice. The initial rollout covers five specialist centres, including Nottingham University Hospitals, University Hospitals Birmingham, Great Ormond Street Hospital, King's College Hospital and Newcastle Hospitals. More centres are expected to be added soon.

The rapid testing is therefore intended to complement the entire diagnostic process rather than make traditional pathology obsolete. If the NHS pilot is successful, rapid genomic testing could eventually make that information available much earlier to brain tumour patients across England.

The early signs of type 2 diabetes could be related to your gut. They may signal a warning risk long before you take a blood sugar test.

New research suggests that changes in the trillions of bacteria living in the gut may accurately predict future diabetes risk.

An analysis of microbiome data from more than 229,000 adults in the UK and US identified hundreds of bacterial changes linked with type 2 diabetes, including changes that appeared before measurable abnormalities in blood glucose.

The findings are being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan.

What Did Researchers Find?

Researchers from the University of Trento in Italy and collaborators in the UK analysed metagenomic data, which involves examining the DNA of microorganisms living in the gut.

The study included 229,025 people, of whom 3,627 had type 2 diabetes, 14,022 had prediabetes and 211,376 had normal blood glucose levels. The average age was 50, and about 74% of participants were women.

After accounting for factors including age, sex and body mass index, researchers identified 789 bacterial species associated with type 2 diabetes.

Of these, 168 were found at higher levels in people with diabetes, while 621 were present at lower levels.

One example was Enterocloster bolteae, which was more abundant in people with type 2 diabetes. In contrast, Romboutsia timonensis was found at lower levels.

Interestingly, 587 of the 789 bacterial species were also associated with unmedicated prediabetes, suggesting that some of these microbial changes may occur before diabetes is diagnosed.

Also read: Diabetes Linked To 55% Risk Of Kidney Disease, Heart Failure Or Death Within 10 Years: Study

Link Between Gut & Blood Sugar

The researchers looked at 135,093 people who had normal blood glucose and did not have diabetes or prediabetes. They also had information about how their blood sugar responded after eating.

Normally, blood glucose rises after a meal and then falls. If it remains elevated for longer than expected, it can indicate that the body's muscles are not responding properly to insulin, an early feature of insulin resistance.

Researchers found that people whose blood sugar remained elevated for longer were more likely to have the gut bacterial pattern linked with type 2 diabetes. The microbiome changes became more pronounced as insulin resistance increased.

Therefore, it was observed that the gut microbiome carried clues about metabolic problems even when standard blood glucose levels were still normal.

Also read: Muscle Loss In Middle Age May Signal Dementia Risk, Study Finds

Future Of Diabetes Testing

Currently, diabetes and prediabetes are diagnosed using tests like HbA1c, fasting blood glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests.

For people who have normal results, doctors generally assess future diabetes risk using factors like age, sex, body mass index and family history. A gut microbiome test is not currently part of routine diabetes screening.

The researchers believe microbiome analysis could eventually provide an additional layer of risk assessment, identifying people who could benefit from earlier lifestyle interventions.

Professor Tim Spector, one of the study's authors, Scientific Co-Founder, ZOE, said, “These latest findings represent a major step forward in understanding how our gut microbiome is linked directly with metabolic disease. Identifying these clear microbial changes before blood sugar levels worsen could lead to earlier intervention with food and lifestyle choices, as well as treatment options, to prevent T2D."

The researchers say that microbiome analysis should not replace existing tests for diabetes or prediabetes. The current findings show associations between particular bacterial patterns and diabetes risk.

The researchers also found that some of the bacteria making up the diabetes-related signature have never been isolated or cultivated in a laboratory and are new in terms of scientific investigation.

Additional research will be needed to assess whether these microbial changes can reliably predict who will develop diabetes and whether changing the microbiome can actually reduce that risk.