Smoking and Heart Disease

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of heart diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.

Some Heart Disease Facts Due to Smoking:

- Tobacco contains more then 4,000 chemicals, many are known to be poisonous.
- Nicotine increases blood pressure, because the carbon monoxide makes the heart beat faster and takes the place of oxygen in the blood.
- Tar in tobacco causes cancer, which can be a fatal disease.
- Smoking for long periods of time will cause artery clogging, which in turn leads to heart attacks from overworking the heart by reducing its oxygen supply. It also makes clots more likely to form in the blood vessels increasing the risk of potentially fatal changes in the heart beat.
- Those who are regular, long-time smokers have a 70% greater risk of death from coronary heart disease than non-smokers.
- 80% of new smokers are children and adolescents who are trying to copy a parent or other hero figure.

Passive smoking can cause heart disease, and those who do not smoke directly but inhale smoke from others are at direct risk, as well.

- Living with an active smoker increases one’s risk of heart disease by 30%.
- Inhaling smoke is especially dangerous for children and unborn babies (pregnant women) and can lead to low birth weight babies, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and middle ear infection.

Stop Smoking to Improve Your Health and Increase Your Life Span

Many choose smoking to cope with stress, loose weight, because of poor self-esteem, or simply to fit in the friend’s circle by looking ‘cool.’ Most of the first time smokers get their first cigarette from someone else or find it readily available in the house from a smoking parent.

Here are some great reasons to stop smoking now:

- Smoking causes heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack.
- Your smoking can cause the same bad effects on your family and friends around you who don’t smoke.
- Save money from not buying cigarettes – if you do the math, depending on how much you smoke, you are looking at couple of thousand dollars a year.

Getting Help

If you think you cannot do it with just plain will power and/or if you are a heavy smoker, get help before you start so you can successfully quit the habit.

- Check with your doctor first and see what course of action he/she recommends.
- Nicotine patch/pills/chewing gums are a great substitute.
- Try to quit along with a friend or a group.

Cigarette smoking can cause you to die early and those who live close to you to inhale the smoke – that in itself should be reason enough to quit. Enjoy a healthy life and offer clean air to your family and friends – quit smoking today.