Drinking alcohol and smoking can cause serious damage to your arteries "very early in life", scientists have warned in a new study.
The fresh research, which undertaken by scientists at University College London (UCL), said the damage can even apply to those who only drink very occasionally.
Even more worryingly, it can even affect us from a young age, with studies showing arteries already beginning to stiffen by the age of 17, according to UCL, leading to bigger later down the line.
"Arterial stiffness indicates damage to the blood vessels, which predicts heart and blood vessel problems in later life, such as heart attacks and stroke," the university said.
The findings were a result of scientists analysing data from 1,266 adolescents over a five-year period between 2004 and 2008.
It also showed that a combination of high alcohol intake and smoking was linked to even greater arterial damage compared to drinking and smoking separately.
"We found that in this large contemporary British cohort, drinking and smoking in adolescence, even at lower levels compared to those reported in adult studies, is associated with arterial stiffening and atherosclerosis progression," said the study’s senior author, Professor John Deanfield.
Participants provided details of their smoking and drinking habits at ages 13, 15 and 17. Aortic stiffening was then assessed using a Vicorder device to measure carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, that is, the speed at which the arterial pulse propagates through the circulatory system.
Teenagers that were in the "high intensity" smoking group had a relative increase of 3.7 percent in the stiffening of their arteries, compared to those in the low smoking intensity group.
However, Deanfield added that the effects could be reversible if stopped early in life.
The research showed that if teenagers stopped smoking and drinking during adolescence, their arteries returned to normal "suggesting that there are opportunities to preserve arterial health from a young age".
Dr Marietta Charakida, who carried out the research at UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science, added that while studies have shown teenagers are smoking less in recent years, UCL’s findings indicated one in five teenagers were smoking by the age of 17.
"Governments and policy-makers need to devise and implement effective educational strategies, starting in childhood, to discourage children and teenagers from adopting smoking and bad drinking habits," she said.
"They should also be told about the benefits of stopping these unhealthy behaviours."
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