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Page 1 of 9 Tobacco and Cardiovascular Disease Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Disease |
Tobacco smoke contains high levels of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide affects 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. People who use tobacco are more likely to have heart attacks, high blood pressure, blood clots, strokes, hemorrhages, aneurysms, and other disorders of the cardiovascular system. Smoking actually triples the risk of dying from heart disease. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of stroke by increasing clotting factors in the blood, decreasing HDL cholesterol levels, increasing triglyceride levels, and damaging the lining of blood vessels. The risk for stroke increases as the number of cigarettes smoked increases.
There is no evidence of a safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. In fact, long-term exposure to secondhand smoke has been shown to cause a 30% increase in the risk of heart disease in nonsmokers. It is estimated that 37,000 coronary heart disease deaths per year are caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke also negatively affects cardiovascular health by decreasing exercise endurance, damaging blood vessel walls, and increasing the tendency of blood platelets to clot, contributing to heart attacks. Also, nonsmokers bodies tend to react more dramatically to tobacco exposure than do smokers bodies, so lower levels of smoke can cause adverse effects.
With five to 15
years, an ex-smoker's Quitting also reduces the risk of other circulatory diseases. People who quit smoking cut their risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm in half. The risk of having a stroke or hemorrhage is also reduced. Within five to 15 years, an ex-smokers risk of having a stroke is the same as that of someone who never smoked.
Experts think that nicotine interferes with metabolism or some other digestive process. Smokers and nonsmokers tend to eat about the same amount, but smokers weigh slightly less and have less healthy distribution of body fat. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke or who smoke or chew tobacco also exhibit high levels of overall cholesterol and low levels of high density lipoproteins or HDL ("good" cholesterol). This indicates that nicotine or some other component of tobacco interferes with normal digestion and metabolism. It has been found that on average, smokers weigh only a few pounds less than nonsmokers of the same age and gender. Upon cessation, weight tends to increase only to a level the smoker would have attained/maintained if he/she had never smoked (5). Smoking should not be used as a weight loss tool. Most ex-smokers have higher levels of exercise endurance, improved cardiovascular functioning, and more energy than they did while they were smokers. Studies indicate that beginning an exercise program for a few weeks before attempting to quit, and maintaining exercise for several weeks after successfully quitting, can help to prevent both weight gain and relapse.
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