By now most of us are familiar with the bad effects that smoking has on one’s health.
One of the single, most important things you can do to improve your health (or avoid problems altogether) is to not smoke.
But what, exactly, does cigarette smoke do to your body to wreak all this havoc? In this post, we will look specifically at what it does to your heart.
Needless to say, your heart is a pretty important part of your health. It pumps and circulates your blood to all parts of the body. Keeping it running is vital. Cigarettes and hearts don’t get along. In fact, smoking tobacco is the strongest risk factor for developing heart disease.
The chemicals in tobacco smoke harm your blood cells. They also can damage the function of your heart and the structure and function of your blood vessels. This damage increases your risk of atherosclerosis.
The risk of having a heart attack is six times higher in smokers – both men and women – than in people who have never smoked. Worldwide, smoking is thought to account for almost half, or about 40 percent, of first heart attacks.
That’s the bad news. However, the good news is…well, there actually is no good news for this part. Not only does smoking cause heart disease, but once you develop heart disease, continuing to smoke makes it worse, much worse. People who keep smoking after having a heart attack have a much higher risk of subsequent heart attacks. People who smoke after surgery or stenting have a much higher incidence of developing occlusion of the bypassed or stented artery. Smokers with coronary artery disease (CAD) or heart failure have a substantially higher risk of premature death than non-smokers with these conditions.
But there is some good news in all this after all—if you quit smoking, the benefits to your heart start immediately.
Love your heart – don’t smoke.
If you need help quitting, try these tips, or consider speaking to one of our Brigham City physicians to determine a plan of action.