Smokers who have a stroke are much more likely to have another one if they don’t quit or at least cut back, a Chinese study suggests.

Smoking has long been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and serious cardiac events like heart attacks and strokes. But the new study sheds light on how smoking influences the risk of a second stroke in patients who already had one.

Among the 3,069 stroke survivors in the study, 1,475, or 48 percent, were current smokers and another nine percent were former smokers.

Among the current smokers, 908, or 62 percent, managed to quit within a few months after their stroke.