Short and long-term effects of smoking on cortisol in older adults.

We investigated concurrent as well as long-term effects of smoking on cortisol. The population consisted of 2508 elderly adults. Current smokers, as opposed to former smokers, had higher basal cortisol levels and higher morning increases of cortisol. Overall, pack-years was related to morning cortisol rise, but this was accounted for by current smokers. Time since quitting was positively associated with a greater decline in daytime cortisol indicating that the effects of smoking remit. This suggests that smoking has short-term, rather than long-term, consequences on cortisol secretion patterns.