Over time, they can cause severe health issues like stroke or heart failure. Cardiovascular disease CVD is an umbrella term for diseases that affect the heart or blood vessels.
Since CVD refers to any disease involving the heart or blood vessels, most heart-related smoking issues fall into this category. But some conditions are causes of CVD, rather than types. High blood pressure is when the blood in your arteries flows with too much force. Cigarette smoke causes high blood pressure because it contains nicotine. Nicotine is a harmful chemical that increases blood pressure. In atherosclerosis , the arteries become narrow and stiff due to plaque buildup.
Plaque is made of substances like cholesterol, fat, and scar tissue. Plaque blocks blood flow, making it difficult for blood to reach other parts of the body, and it also causes inflammation. Specifically, cigarette smoke causes and worsens atherosclerosis by increasing inflammation. The inflammation promotes cholesterol and plaque buildup, which accumulate in the arteries. Also, smoking causes hypertension, which increases the risk of atherosclerosis.
Arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat. Smoking triggers cardiac fibrosis, or the scarring of heart muscle. This can lead to an irregular heartbeat or a fast heartbeat, also known as tachycardia. Coronary heart disease CHD happens when the arteries in the heart, called coronary arteries, are unable to bring enough blood to the heart. Over time, atherosclerosis causes plaque to build up in the coronary arteries, making it difficult for blood to pass through.
High blood pressure also damages the coronary arteries, making them even narrower. Additionally, the chemicals in cigarette smoke can thicken blood, forming clots that may block coronary arteries.
Smoking promotes the formation of plaque and clots, which can block blood vessels throughout the body. If this occurs in the brain, it can cause a stroke. A stroke , or a brain attack, happens when blood flow to the brain is interrupted. This occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts. If smoking blocks blood flow to the heart, it can cause a heart attack. There was also a significantly increasing risk of CHD mortality for both men and women with increasing consumption, through 40 or more cigarettes per day.
In Australia, there is about a tripling in the risk of fatal heart attack in current versus never smokers aged 45—64, compared with an increased risk of 1. Lower tar and nicotine cigarettes have not been shown to reduce the incidence of CHD, due to smokers increasing the number of cigarettes smoked per day or by taking deeper, faster, more or longer puffs.
Thus, such cigarettes do not provide a lower risk alternative for smokers who cannot or do not wish to quit. The risks of myocardial infarction and death from CHD are lower among former smokers than among continuing smokers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer 14 describes the benefits of quitting as:.
For methodological reasons, the assessment of risk reduction is problematic within the first two years of cessation. This report concluded that the risk of CHD declines rapidly in the period immediately following cessation and then declines at slower rate in the longer term. In some of the reviewed studies, the risk for CHD in former smokers eventually decreased to that of never smokers.
Australian research published in July found no significant elevations in the incidence of CHD in past smokers who quit by age 35, and no significant elevations in mortality from CHD in past smokers who quit by age There are a number of potential mechanisms by which smoking cessation may be reducing the risk of CHD. There are immediate benefits from reduction of nicotine and CO, such as avoiding the transient increases in heart rate and CO-mediated reduction in oxygen transport.
Cessation may also improve functioning of endothelial cells, 8 reducing inflammation 15 , 16 and improving the balance of lipoproteins. A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted, leading to injury or death of brain tissue.
This occurs most commonly because of arterial blockage caused by atherosclerosis or a blood clot, an event known as an ischaemic stroke. Happening less often, but more likely to be fatal, is a haemorrhagic stroke, in which bleeding occurs from a leaking or ruptured arterial wall at a point weakened by atherosclerosis.
Sometimes the artery stretches at the site of weakness, causing it to balloon out, forming an aneurysm. The bigger the aneurysm, the more likely it is to rupture, causing haemorrhage and a resultant stroke. Stroke is a major cause of death and disability in Australia. One in five people experiencing their first stroke episode will die within four weeks, and one in three will die within 12 months.
Among the people who survive the first month after their first-ever stroke, about half will survive five years. Smoking is an important cause of stroke, with the risk of having a stroke rising with the amount of tobacco smoked.
In Australia, current smokers are more than twice as likely to have a stroke compared with never smokers. As with CVD, the impact of stroke caused by tobacco is greatest among the middle-aged. The report of the US Surgeon General concluded that there is causal relationship between exposure to secondhand smoke and increased risk of stroke.
In the report, the US Surgeon General concluded that smoking cessation reduces the risk of stroke morbidity and mortality. Peripheral artery disease PAD occurs when blockages within the blood vessels prevent proper blood circulation.
PAD most commonly occurs in the legs and feet, but it can also develop in the arms and hands. It is usually caused by atherosclerosis, where fatty deposits reduce blood flow in the arteries leading to the legs. This may result in severe exertional pain intermittent claudication , especially in the legs, reducing physical capacity and health-related quality of life. If left untreated, PAD can lead to gangrene and lower limb amputation. Smoking is an important cause of PAD, 25 with current smokers having five times the risk of developing PAD compared to people who have never smoked.
However, the report of the US Surgeon General concluded that the evidence is suggestive but not sufficient to infer that smoking cessation substantially reduces the risk of peripheral arterial disease among former smokers compared with persons who continue to smoke, and that this reduction appears to increase with time since cessation. Quitting smoking may be associated with decreased mortality and longer time before amputation for people with PAD, 30 and reduced risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in people with concurrent PAD and diabetes.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm is a weakening of the wall of the aorta the major artery carrying oxygenated blood from the heart to the body in the region below the diaphragm. The weakening occurs as a result of atherosclerotic lesions developing in the aortic wall. The wall may eventually stretch and then leak or burst.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm is frequently fatal. Smoking is a cause of abdominal aortic aneurysm, the risk rising with increased exposure to tobacco smoke. Smoking cessation substantially reduces the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm and this risk reduces with greater time since cessation. Sudden cardiac death describes death occurring due to sudden, unexpected loss of heart function. Cardiac dysrhythmias irregular muscular contractions of the heart, also referred to as cardiac arrhythmias also cause sudden cardiac death.
Australian research has estimated that current smokers are 2. The report of the US Surgeon General found that the evidence is suggestive but insufficient to infer that smoking cessation reduces the risk of sudden cardiac death in people without coronary heart disease. Congestive heart failure CHF occurs when the heart becomes less able to pump blood through the body effectively. The heart may become enlarged or thicken, and fluid may collect in the lungs causing shortness of breath or in other parts of the body causing swelling or weight gain.
Exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of children developing asthma and provokes more frequent asthma in children with asthma. Healthy eating and lifestyle changes can help to manage high blood pressure.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can increase your risk of heart attack, kidney failure and stroke. Heart Foundation of Australia warns of the risk of high blood pressure and tells you what you can do to keep your blood pressure down. Content on this website is provided for information purposes only. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not in any way endorse or support such therapy, service, product or treatment and is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or other registered health professional.
The information and materials contained on this website are not intended to constitute a comprehensive guide concerning all aspects of the therapy, product or treatment described on the website. All users are urged to always seek advice from a registered health care professional for diagnosis and answers to their medical questions and to ascertain whether the particular therapy, service, product or treatment described on the website is suitable in their circumstances.
The State of Victoria and the Department of Health shall not bear any liability for reliance by any user on the materials contained on this website. Skip to main content. Smoking and tobacco. Home Smoking and tobacco. If you smoke cigarettes and are concerned about your heart and cardiovascular health, consult with your health care provider about NRTs or other ways to quit to help protect your heart.
Health Effects of Tobacco Use. Get Help Quitting. Atlanta, GA: U. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Accessed January , Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease Fact Sheet. Accessed January 23, Heart disease and stroke statistics update: a report from the American Heart Association.
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