Early riser smokers, who reach for their first cigarette as soon as they get up in the morning, are at higher risk of developing lung and neck cancer than those who wait at least an hour to light their first cigarette. Joshua Muscat and his colleagues at Penn State School of Medicine (USA) reached that conclusion by studying about 8,000 regular smokers, of whom 4,775 had cancer. The data, published in the specialized journal Cancer , reveal that those who wait 30 minutes or less to light their first cigarette are 1.79 times more likely to suffer from lung cancer and 1.59 times more sensitive to the development of head and neck cancer .
Muscat speculates that these differences are due to the fact that "these smokers have higher levels of nicotine and possibly other toxins from tobacco in their body, and they are more addicted to cigarettes." Being less "impatient" and starting to smoke a little later could reduce cancer cases , which is why the authors recommend applying this as a first step in therapies that help to quit tobacco.
