Cardiovascular Disease and Tobacco
What is the connection between smoking and heart disease and stroke?
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Contrary to public perception, smoking-caused heart disease actually results in more deaths per year than smoking-caused lung cancer. Thirty percent of all heart disease deaths are caused by cigarette smoking. Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of heart disease in the United States.Smoking actually triples the risk of dying from heart disease. People who use tobacco are more likely to have heart attacks, high blood pressure, blood clots, strokes, hemorrhages, aneurisms, and other disorders of the cardiovascular system.
Cigarette smoking, a major cause of stroke, increases clotting factors in the blood, decreases HDL cholesterol levels, increases triglyceride levels, and damages the lining of blood vessels. The risk for stroke increases as the number of cigarettes smoked increases.
Tobacco smoke contains high levels of carbon monoxide which affect the heart by reducing the amount of oxygen the blood is able to carry.
This means that the heart, lungs, brain, and other vital organs do not always receive enough oxygen to perform everyday functions. At the same time, nicotine causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. Over time, this causes extraordinary "wear and tear" on the cardiovascular system.
