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Quit Smoking
Articles
Smoking
Related
Diseases
Warning:
Photos on this page may be graphic and disturbing
Did you know that many more people will die from circulatory
problems from smoking than from cancer or other lung diseases?
In heart and other circulatory diseases, the two chemicals in
cigarettes that stand out as the biggest problems are nicotine and
carbon monoxide. Nicotine has very powerful effects on arteries
throughout the body, working as a stimulant and speeding up the heart
by about 20 beats per minute with every cigarette. It increases blood
pressure and constricts the arteries, making it harder for the heart
to pump through the constricted arteries and thus, causing the body to
release fat and cholesterol into the blood.
As a result of this, the heart needs has to pump harder to overcome
these effects and needs extra oxygen to fuel itself. But since carbon
monoxide present in tobacco smoke takes the place of oxygen in the
blood, the heart need to work harder on its own. This places great
stress on the heart after every cigarette smoked and the more
cigarette smoked, the more stress builds.
At the same time, blood clots are likely to occur along the artery,
causing blood flow to be blocked.
The photo on the above left shows a cross-section of a normal
artery. The one on the right is of a diseased artery that had suffered from a
deadly clot-formation.
Clot-formation may occur in the great arteries of the heart,
leading to deadly infarctions and heart attacks.
The photo on the above left shows a clot-formation in the coronary
artery which had led to a myocardial infarction or heart attack. The
right photo shows a heart that had suffered from a heart attack. The
affected part of the heart appears cracked and brittle and it is not able to pump blood anymore,
causing permanent impairment in the overall circulation. If this part was
large enough, the person would die immediately from the heart
attack.
The vasoconstrictor effect of nicotine induces the body to release
more fat and cholesterol. To make things worse, carbon monoxide has a way of
sticking the fats and cholesterol to the arteries, causing a dangerous
build-up of fatty tissue along the arteries, leading to a significant reduction in blood flow to the
supplying tissues or organs.
The left photo is an artery which is starting to accumulate
fat deposits. The right photo is that of a smoker whose artery
has been completely blocked with fatty buildup.
And for the same
reason, circulation to the brain can also be impaired if the arteries
experience blockage. Below are photos of the same artery in the brains
of the 2 different individuals - one a non-smoker and the other a
smoker.
In the left photo of
a non-smoker, the 2 arrows are pointing to normal arteries that adopt
wire-like structures, which makes them very hard to notice. In the
right photo taken from the brain of a smoker, the arteries are very
prominent and thick from the build up of fatty tissue. Because of this
build up or a clot-formation, the person experiences loss of
circulation to the supplied part of the brain, resulting in serious
strokes, seizures and sometimes even death.
The circulation to
the arms and legs are also highly vulnerable to the vasoconstricting,
clot-forming and fat-clogging effects of smoking. Smoking is the
primary cause of peripheral vascular disease, especially Buerger's
Disease. In Buerger's Disease, circulation to the finger or toes are
completely cut off, resulting in death and rotting of that part. Once
death and rotting (gangrene) occurs, the only course of action is to
amputate the limb.
If you still think
do not believe that smoking is responsible for any particular disease,
think again. Buerger Disease only occurs in smokers and has never been
reported in any non-smoker. It strikes people between 20 - 40 years of
age and hits both men and women as well. So are you convinced now?
It is not worth to
lose a finger, a foot or a life to smoking. Its not worth to live the
rest of your life bed-ridden or crippled after a damaging stroke.
Don't let smoking ruin your life. You can reverse the effects of
circulatory damage and the best thing you can do about it right away
is to quit smoking today. Don't
wait till you lose your legs before you do.
Reference:
Www.WhyQuit.Net
by Joel Spitzer
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