Smoking and Heart Disease
When people think of smoking related illness, they usually directly think about lung cancer and other respiratory problems. Although those the most common forms, Smoking also pays a toll on the Heart causing circulatory problems. The risk of getting a heart attack is nearly doubled with people who smoke 1 pack of cigarettes a day. In the United States, about 30% of all people who die from heart disease died from their smoking habit.
When people smoke Heavily they form the risk of atherosclerosis. This is pretty much a gradual blockage of fatty materials in the human arteries. The original lining of the artery eventually weakens and begins to corrode soon allowing the walls to harden and prevent the flow of blood from happening. In other instances such as coronary heard disease, the amount of oxygen needed to pass through the body is inefficient because of the narrowing of the arteries due to smoking. This can cause hardships in any individual’s lifestyle. When strain is done to the heart, people with coronary heart disease often experience pain in their chest.
Many people that start smoking as a teen don’t realize that their habit will result in high blood pressure, increased blood clotting, destroyed cells in blood vessels, and a fatal heart attack down the road. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women so it is important to evaluate the risks that smoking will have on their body. Also women who take birth control pills and smoke have a very much increase risk of having stroke and heart attack. As stated by the American Heart Association, cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the United States, accounting for 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths. Second Hand Smoke is also another risk that much of the population is unaware about. Not only does it cause several respiratory problems in individuals, but it also effects the heart. According to the American Heart Association, about 22,700 to 69,600 premature deaths from heart and blood vessel disease are caused by other people’s smoke each year.
Peripheral Artery Disease is another is another form of Heart Disease that smokers have a high risk of getting. Some of its effects are painful muscle cramps particularly in the individual’s legs due to lack of blood being circulated to the area. This form of Heart Disease is related to atherosclerosis.
Sources include:
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/smoking, http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/quit-smoking-heart, http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/kicking-habit, http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4545
