The Effects of Smoking on Heart Health
and/or Coronary Artery Disease.
and/or Coronary Artery Disease.
1- INTRODUCTION . Legends, Truths, Facts and Consequences.
We all keep hearing, again and again, that smoking is bad for you. That is a very easy thing to say for a non-smoker. But, if you happen to be a smoker who enjoys his hourly cigarette, you can hardly conceive that a peaceful activity such as smoking a cigarette on your patio chair can have such bad or harmful effects. These effects lead to smoking-induced diseases like coronary heart disease (also called coronary artery disease) and others. You may wonder if there is any truth to this saying that smoking cigarettes, smoking cigars or smoking pipe harms your arteries, jeopardizes your cardiovascular health and may cause heart attacks and death. Just what are the data and the evidence on WHY and HOW smoking is harmful to coronary health? In order to find out, we will first take a look at how CHD and heart attacks develop, then we will look at the physiological and biochemical effects of smoke and, finally, we will confirm the data with numbers from "Meta" epidemiological studies.
We all keep hearing, again and again, that smoking is bad for you. That is a very easy thing to say for a non-smoker. But, if you happen to be a smoker who enjoys his hourly cigarette, you can hardly conceive that a peaceful activity such as smoking a cigarette on your patio chair can have such bad or harmful effects. These effects lead to smoking-induced diseases like coronary heart disease (also called coronary artery disease) and others. You may wonder if there is any truth to this saying that smoking cigarettes, smoking cigars or smoking pipe harms your arteries, jeopardizes your cardiovascular health and may cause heart attacks and death. Just what are the data and the evidence on WHY and HOW smoking is harmful to coronary health? In order to find out, we will first take a look at how CHD and heart attacks develop, then we will look at the physiological and biochemical effects of smoke and, finally, we will confirm the data with numbers from "Meta" epidemiological studies.
2- GENESIS OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS - or Coronary Heart Disease
In order to keep our engine running, the muscle of the heart (called Myocardium) must itself be supplied with oxygen-rich blood. It is the job of the coronary arteries to irrigate the heart muscle. Those are mainly the right coronary artery, the left coronary artery and a derivative called the circumflex coronary artery. These, in turn branch into smaller vessels called arterioles. In children, these vessels are very elastic or pliable. The inside passageway (or lumen) is then free of obstructive debris and other unwanted material. Those arteries perform perfectly. But, as time goes by, we subject the cells that line the inside of our arteries (the endothelium) to all kinds of stresses, mechanical and chemical stresses. View the endothelium like skin tissue, but inside. It forms a membrane between us and the materials that we absorb and that are carried in the blood. Like skin, it reacts. Skin may react to a physical stress like sunburn. It may also react to a chemical stress like the abrasive action of a chemical. You then see the result: red patches indicating inflammation. The same applies to the arteries, except for the fact that it is not visible to us.
When the inside lining of the coronary arteries are damaged or inflamed, gaps may appear. LDL-Cholesterol has a bad tendency to enter those gaps and infiltrate. It lodges itself between the endothelium and the muscle tissue. In an attempt to fix up the mess, our immune system responds by sending macrophage cells to gobble the offending cholesterol. They do. However, they are then too large to escape and they get trapped under the endothelium. They die, forming over time an accumulation of debris that will eventually diminish the diameter of the passageway. This shrinking is called stenosis. Other constituents like calcium will also add themselves to the debris. This accumulation is called coronary plaque. In the end, the artery wall becomes harder. This hardening of the arteries is called sclerosis, hence the word atherosclerosis.
This is when it becomes dangerous. Plaque has a nasty habit of becoming sometimes unstable and to rupture under the right circumstances. When plaque ruptures, your body will attempt to repair the injury : blood will start to clot in order to "patch" the injury, like on your skin. This is not the best of places for a blood clot to form since it may lead to a blockage of blood flow, called an infarct. When that happens, the muscle cells irrigated by this artery start to die…This is an outright heart attack that may lead to death or serious impairment.
The four main contributors that have caused this are: inflammation of the arteries, plaque build-up leading to coronary heart disease, plaque rupture and finally the development of a blood clot. Let us look at what happens when smoking is in the picture.
In order to keep our engine running, the muscle of the heart (called Myocardium) must itself be supplied with oxygen-rich blood. It is the job of the coronary arteries to irrigate the heart muscle. Those are mainly the right coronary artery, the left coronary artery and a derivative called the circumflex coronary artery. These, in turn branch into smaller vessels called arterioles. In children, these vessels are very elastic or pliable. The inside passageway (or lumen) is then free of obstructive debris and other unwanted material. Those arteries perform perfectly. But, as time goes by, we subject the cells that line the inside of our arteries (the endothelium) to all kinds of stresses, mechanical and chemical stresses. View the endothelium like skin tissue, but inside. It forms a membrane between us and the materials that we absorb and that are carried in the blood. Like skin, it reacts. Skin may react to a physical stress like sunburn. It may also react to a chemical stress like the abrasive action of a chemical. You then see the result: red patches indicating inflammation. The same applies to the arteries, except for the fact that it is not visible to us.
When the inside lining of the coronary arteries are damaged or inflamed, gaps may appear. LDL-Cholesterol has a bad tendency to enter those gaps and infiltrate. It lodges itself between the endothelium and the muscle tissue. In an attempt to fix up the mess, our immune system responds by sending macrophage cells to gobble the offending cholesterol. They do. However, they are then too large to escape and they get trapped under the endothelium. They die, forming over time an accumulation of debris that will eventually diminish the diameter of the passageway. This shrinking is called stenosis. Other constituents like calcium will also add themselves to the debris. This accumulation is called coronary plaque. In the end, the artery wall becomes harder. This hardening of the arteries is called sclerosis, hence the word atherosclerosis.
This is when it becomes dangerous. Plaque has a nasty habit of becoming sometimes unstable and to rupture under the right circumstances. When plaque ruptures, your body will attempt to repair the injury : blood will start to clot in order to "patch" the injury, like on your skin. This is not the best of places for a blood clot to form since it may lead to a blockage of blood flow, called an infarct. When that happens, the muscle cells irrigated by this artery start to die…This is an outright heart attack that may lead to death or serious impairment.
The four main contributors that have caused this are: inflammation of the arteries, plaque build-up leading to coronary heart disease, plaque rupture and finally the development of a blood clot. Let us look at what happens when smoking is in the picture.
3- EFFECTS OF SMOKING ON CORONARY HEART HEALTH
There are a little over 4,000 known chemicals in tobacco smoke. Most of those chemicals are, to different degrees and depending on the doses, toxic or poison to human tissues. Of course, while smoking one cigarette you are not supplying your body with a huge amount. That is the catch. After three decades, you will have repeated this over a quarter of a million times. The cumulative effect explains why, for average smokers, your chances of having serious cardiovascular problems are almost DOUBLED, they are increased by + 70%. In heavier smokers, you chances of ending up in big trouble are increased by 200% to 300%. Thanks to the regular supply of all those heart disease-inducing chemicals. How is that?
- SMOKING induces INFLAMMATION of the endothelium. Those who smoke will recall what happens to their throat the morning after a party or event when they smoked too much. Your voice is deeper and your throat is sore, due to inflammation. Don't think your coronary arteries are not inflamed, you just can't feel it. Perfect time for LDL-Cholesterol to go and see what lies under the endothelium of you coronary arteries. An excellent (tough technical) article can be found on this topic in The British Medical Journal: "Acute Effects of Cigarette Smoke on Inflammation and Oxidative Stress". Inflammation, as we have discussed, is a cause of coronary heart disease. Chronic smoking may cause (probably does in most people) a silent state of chronic arterial inflammation. Of course inflammation is an effect of smoking that causes the development of CHD by promoting the build-up of plaque.
- SMOKING INCREASES MECHANICAL ARTERIAL STRESS DUE TO INCREASED BLOOD PRESSURE AND INCREASED HEART RATE. In cigarette or tobacco smoke, among the many chemicals responsible for blood pressure increase, are principally Nicotine, Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide. It may take up to 30 minutes for your blood pressure to go down after a cigarette. Walking about with a generally increased blood pressure contributes to the development of Atherosclerosis and may be a major contributing factor in plaque rupture leading to a heart attack. An effect of smoking you would rather do without.
- SMOKING IMPAIRS VASODILATION, or the relaxation of the arteries irrigating your heart. Arteries in good health are capable of relaxing. The relaxation process depends on Nitrous Oxide, the release happens at the endothelial level. Smoking interferes with this mechanism. The net result is that your heart has to work harder all the time due to more constricted arteries.
- SMOKING INCREASES THE RISK OF BLOOD CLOTS. Of course, if you already are a cardiac sufferer, this is one predicament you would want to avoid at all cost. You do not need in your blood the presence of chemicals that may just trigger a cardiac event because they increase the chances of a blood clot being formed suddenly and obstructing a coronary artery. This is an effect of smoking you'd better do without.
There are a little over 4,000 known chemicals in tobacco smoke. Most of those chemicals are, to different degrees and depending on the doses, toxic or poison to human tissues. Of course, while smoking one cigarette you are not supplying your body with a huge amount. That is the catch. After three decades, you will have repeated this over a quarter of a million times. The cumulative effect explains why, for average smokers, your chances of having serious cardiovascular problems are almost DOUBLED, they are increased by + 70%. In heavier smokers, you chances of ending up in big trouble are increased by 200% to 300%. Thanks to the regular supply of all those heart disease-inducing chemicals. How is that?
- SMOKING induces INFLAMMATION of the endothelium. Those who smoke will recall what happens to their throat the morning after a party or event when they smoked too much. Your voice is deeper and your throat is sore, due to inflammation. Don't think your coronary arteries are not inflamed, you just can't feel it. Perfect time for LDL-Cholesterol to go and see what lies under the endothelium of you coronary arteries. An excellent (tough technical) article can be found on this topic in The British Medical Journal: "Acute Effects of Cigarette Smoke on Inflammation and Oxidative Stress". Inflammation, as we have discussed, is a cause of coronary heart disease. Chronic smoking may cause (probably does in most people) a silent state of chronic arterial inflammation. Of course inflammation is an effect of smoking that causes the development of CHD by promoting the build-up of plaque.
- SMOKING INCREASES MECHANICAL ARTERIAL STRESS DUE TO INCREASED BLOOD PRESSURE AND INCREASED HEART RATE. In cigarette or tobacco smoke, among the many chemicals responsible for blood pressure increase, are principally Nicotine, Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide. It may take up to 30 minutes for your blood pressure to go down after a cigarette. Walking about with a generally increased blood pressure contributes to the development of Atherosclerosis and may be a major contributing factor in plaque rupture leading to a heart attack. An effect of smoking you would rather do without.
- SMOKING IMPAIRS VASODILATION, or the relaxation of the arteries irrigating your heart. Arteries in good health are capable of relaxing. The relaxation process depends on Nitrous Oxide, the release happens at the endothelial level. Smoking interferes with this mechanism. The net result is that your heart has to work harder all the time due to more constricted arteries.
- SMOKING INCREASES THE RISK OF BLOOD CLOTS. Of course, if you already are a cardiac sufferer, this is one predicament you would want to avoid at all cost. You do not need in your blood the presence of chemicals that may just trigger a cardiac event because they increase the chances of a blood clot being formed suddenly and obstructing a coronary artery. This is an effect of smoking you'd better do without.
4- STATISTICAL FACTS
The statements that follow, relative to the harmful effects of smoking, are based on statistical data derived from large and reliable databases.
- Smoking accounts for nearly one in every five deaths in the United States, each year.
- According to the CDC, smokers are 2 to 4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than non-smokers. According to Quit-Smoking-Stop.org, one in two lifetime smokers will die from a disease induced by the effects of smoking.
- Statistically the risk of developing coronary heart disease or dying from it increases directly and proportionally with exposure to tobacco smoke.
- After stopping smoking, the risk associated to heart disease drops by half after the first year.
- Smoking raises blood glucose and has very harmful effects in diabetics.
The statements that follow, relative to the harmful effects of smoking, are based on statistical data derived from large and reliable databases.
- Smoking accounts for nearly one in every five deaths in the United States, each year.
- According to the CDC, smokers are 2 to 4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than non-smokers. According to Quit-Smoking-Stop.org, one in two lifetime smokers will die from a disease induced by the effects of smoking.
- Statistically the risk of developing coronary heart disease or dying from it increases directly and proportionally with exposure to tobacco smoke.
- After stopping smoking, the risk associated to heart disease drops by half after the first year.
- Smoking raises blood glucose and has very harmful effects in diabetics.
5- THE BENEFITS OF QUITTING SMOKING:
There are many benefits to quitting smoking, from financial to esthetical benefits. We will concentrate only on one.
As a smoker, you ARE at risk of experiencing serious cardiovascular events, like a heart attack that may even result in sudden death. If your blood cholesterol level leaves to be desired or if your blood pressure is a bit high, you may be at either high or very high risk. You can change your risk level. Assuming that, for example, your risk level is 32% (32% chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years) , you could reduce that risk to roughly 16% by stopping smoking. Furthermore, over time, with proper medication and eating habits you could even bring your risk below that of the average population.
6 - REFERENCES
There are many benefits to quitting smoking, from financial to esthetical benefits. We will concentrate only on one.
As a smoker, you ARE at risk of experiencing serious cardiovascular events, like a heart attack that may even result in sudden death. If your blood cholesterol level leaves to be desired or if your blood pressure is a bit high, you may be at either high or very high risk. You can change your risk level. Assuming that, for example, your risk level is 32% (32% chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years) , you could reduce that risk to roughly 16% by stopping smoking. Furthermore, over time, with proper medication and eating habits you could even bring your risk below that of the average population.
6 - REFERENCES
- 1 "Long-Term Cigarette Smoking Impairs Endothelium Dependant Vasodilator Function". American Heart Association Journals (AHAJournals.ORG)
- 2 "Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking" The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (cdc.gov)
- 3 Quit-smoking-stop.com (Quit-smoking-stop.com)
- 4 "Acute Effects of Cigarette Smoke On Inflammation and Oxidative Stress". British Medical Journal - British Thoracic Society (Group.bmj.com)
- 5 Health Canada (cdc.gov/tobacco/health/effects/heart.htm)
- 6 The Heart and Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.com)
- 7 "Effects of Smoking on Human Health" - Canadian Diabetic Association (cda.org)
- 8 The United States Surgeon General / Data / Statistics (surgeongeneral.gov)
- 9 United States Department of Health and Human Services / Statistics (HHS.gov)
Links to trustworthy sources of information
The benefits of joining and becoming a member and be e-mailed every article or healthy recipe the very minute one is published.
The heartMonitron Nutrition Journal
The heartMonitron Heart and Diabetes Gazette
The heartMonitron Cholesterol Chronicles
The heartMonitron Weight Monitor
The hM Nutrition Journal covers the basics on nutrition, diet and recipes for health improvement
The hM Gazette covers the basics on heart / cardiovascular health and diabetes care
The hM Chronicles cover the basics on cardiovascular health and cholesterol management
The hM Monitor covers the basics on nutrition, diet, weight loss and weight control
View the other heartMonitron Journals.
Contents of Article
>> 1 - Introduction / Abstract
>> 2 - The Causes of Atherosclerosis
>> 3 - Effects of Smoking on Heart
>> 4 - Statistical Facts on Smoking
>> 5 - The Benefits of Quitting
>> 6 - References
>> 7 - LInks to Relevant Scientific
or Medical Publications and Associations
Computer Assisted Diet / Meal Planning and Nutritional Analysis Tools
Cooking Software for Healthy Recipes
Click on a Picture
to view either
<<< mastercook or cook'n >>>
Software Detais
to view either
<<< mastercook or cook'n >>>
Software Detais
MarketPlace
hM strongly recommends to use the information and healthy recipes provided on this website under the professional supervision of your doctor or registered dietitian . Whether you are seeking to improve your general health, reverse heart disease, control diabetes or your weight, always assume that getting professional advice from your MD or RD is best.
The heart and diabetes Gazette
a heartMonitron Journal
Category : Medical Books - Heart Disease Prevention and Treatment
Title:
"Preventing and Treating heart Disease"
Authors:
The American Medical Association
"Preventing and Treating heart Disease"
Authors:
The American Medical Association
Disclosure:
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, contributes to keep hM going
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, contributes to keep hM going
Category : Medical Devices - Blood Pressure Monitor - Hypertension
Manufacturer : Omron
the HEM-790IT or the HEM 670IT
the HEM-790IT or the HEM 670IT
Disclosure:
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, from Omron at Amazon.com or .ca, contributes to keep hM going
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, from Omron at Amazon.com or .ca, contributes to keep hM going
Omron HEM-7901T with BP management software
Omron HEM-6701T wrist model
Disclosure:
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, contributes to keep hM going
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, contributes to keep hM going
Category : Books - Quit or stop smoking and Heart Disease Reversal
"Treatment Works When You
Choose to Stop Smoking"
Author:
American Psychiatric Association
Choose to Stop Smoking"
Author:
American Psychiatric Association
Disclosure:
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, contributes to keep hM going
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, contributes to keep hM going
Category : Books - Nutrition
Heart Disease Reversal
Heart Disease Reversal
"Prevent and reverse Heart Disease"
Author:
Caldwell B Esselstyn MD
Author:
Caldwell B Esselstyn MD
Disclosure:
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, from DVO, contributes to keep hM going
This ad space is sponsored by hM,
the purchase of the above, from DVO, contributes to keep hM going
Category : Cooking Software - Health Improvement - Recipes Management - Meal Planning
Welcome
Welcome to the Web site for Heart Insight, a free quarterly magazine published by the American Heart Association (AHA) and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, for patients, their families and caregivers.
Heart Insight is lively, upbeat and glossy – but also provides readers with the most up-to-date, authoritative and practical advice on managing and preventing cardiovascular disease and related conditions.
Subscribe today! Click on picture
Welcome to the Web site for Heart Insight, a free quarterly magazine published by the American Heart Association (AHA) and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, for patients, their families and caregivers.
Heart Insight is lively, upbeat and glossy – but also provides readers with the most up-to-date, authoritative and practical advice on managing and preventing cardiovascular disease and related conditions.
Subscribe today! Click on picture
FREE subscription to an American Heart Association quarterly
This ad space is provided "courtesy of HeartMonitron" as a service to hM members. hM and The American Heart Association are not related.
