Question:

What is considered a significant smoking history? How many packs per year is significant?

Answer:

This is a hard question to answer. The American Cancer Society states that any smoking is significant; that risk for health problems depends on the duration of smoking as well as number of packs per day. Similarly, the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association state that risk of smoking is “dose-dependent”; meaning that the more you smoke per day, and the longer you smoke, the higher your risk of serious health consequences. There is no “safe” amount of smoking. Fortunately, health risks of smoking lower quickly with smoking cessation. For more information, please visit the web sites of the organizations mentioned here.

Related Resources:

american heart association
american lung association
american cancer society

For more information:

Go to the Smoking and Tobacco health topic.