Abstention from chronic cigarette smoking normalizes blood rheology.

Smokers differ in terms of blood rheology from non-smokers. Ex-smokers differ from smokers but not from non-smokers. When investigated while abstaining from nicotine for 8 weeks, chronic cigarette smokers show a gradual normalization of blood and plasma viscosities, haematocrit, blood cell filterability, plasma fibrinogen levels as well as total white cell count. Those smokers who did not manage to abstain, reveal no such changes. The findings suggest that haemorheological alterations caused by smoking are reversible. This might play a role in the reduction of cardiovascular risk and in the elevation of tissue perfusion.