Hiking cigarettes prices ‘DOES encourage quitting – and slashes the risk of heart attack within days’

PUTTING up the price of cigarettes encourages people to quit - and slashes the risk of a heart attack within days, a new study has found.

Experts discovered that increasing the cost by just one per cent reduced the number of people who smoke by almost 0.7 per cent.

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They propose a five per cent price hike will result in a 3.5 per cent drop in smokers.

Social medicine expert Michael Kunze, who conducted the research, said that this level of regular price increase is "realistic" and wouldn't encourage an illegal cigarette trade.

He said the five per cent hike is "a level that is acceptable to all parties: to us doctors, because a lot of people would give up smoking, but also to tobacconists and the finance ministry, because revenues and taxes would still yield a reasonable surplus."

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Kunze, who is based at the Medical University of Vienna, added: "It would also be helpful if the policy could be coordinated with Austria's neighbours, so that prices are increased simultaneously by the same amount in each country."

His report also found that quitting smoking has a positive effect on the body after just a few days and reduces the risk of heart disease.

Kunze added: "Even just a few days after the last cigarette, your risk of cardiovascular disease falls rapidly.

"Smoking is almost the same as carbon monoxide poisoning so, if you stop, you stop poisoning yourself."

Researchers have previously claimed they have managed to uncover the clear mechanism by which tobacco increases the risk of heart failure.

The study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston suggests smoking can independently lead to the thickening of the heart and worsening of heart function.

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

But their study also found people who quit their habit can reverse the damage inflicted on their ticker.

It comes after the government banned 10-packs completely in a bid to force people to quit.

The cheapest packet now costs £8.82 and they are also only sold in plain packaging.

Companies were given a 12-month grace period to tell old packs but a Sun investigation found one in 45 retailers were still selling the banned products.

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