Don't Go Up
in Smoke
First and foremost in reducing your risk of suffering a heart attack, if you smoke, QUIT! And if you don't smoke now, DON'T START!
The bad effects of all tobacco use, not just smoking, start immediately with the first use. The most deadly and the most silent harm is caused by nicotine in the bloodstream. Few people are aware that nicotine may cause small tears on the inner surface of blood vessels throughout the body. To heal these tears, the body sends LDL to aid the healing process. Once these fatty deposits start, they continue as the person continues to use tobacco. Eventually the arteries may narrow and clog.
Coupled with the tearing and narrowing of the arteries, nicotine, a stimulant, causes the brain to tell the heart to pump harder and faster. This exerts more pressure on the arteries, which can cause more tearing and thus more plaque build up.
Ingesting nicotine by smoking it also brings a high concentration of carbon dioxide into the smoker's lungs and blood stream. Carbon dioxide in the blood stream replaces oxygen and literally cause cells in the body to "gasp" for air. Every cell works harder to get the little oxygen that the blood is carrying, and this stresses the smoker's heart.
The good news is, just as damage from nicotine use is immediate, so is reversing the damage. For smokers, healing of the cilia in the throat and lungs begins within the first 24 hours. As the blood carries more oxygen and less carbon monoxide and other harmful chemicals, healthy cells replace old, tired ones. The body's organs, especially the lungs and heart, begin to work more efficiently and easier. The senses of smell and taste begin to return.
Studies have shown that a person who has been free of all nicotine use for five years has almost the same risk of heart disease and cancer as a person who has never used tobacco products.
Smoking Cessation Programs
In three words, "Quitting ain't easy." Almost anyone who has quit smoking will tell you that, but they usually add that it's the best thing they've ever done. One recent medical study discovered something very startling about tobacco. Nicotine, the main addictive chemical in tobacco, has been found to be more highly addictive than heroin, cocaine or crack cocaine! So you have a challenge ahead of you.
But if you smoke cigarettes or cigars, or use smokeless tobacco products, the best way to lessen your chances of dying from a heart attack is to quit. Now. Immediately. Today!
Your doctor can help you ease the pain of quitting with medication. And you can buy over-the-counter quitting aids such as the patch and nicotine gum. The problem with those is that you will still be putting nicotine into your body. Many people become addicted to the gum, and the patch seems to only help highly motivated quitters.
If you use tobacco in any form, ask your doctor for advice, call the American Lung Association, or check the Yellow Pages under "Smokers' Treatment." But whatever you do, do it today and quit for good!
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© 1998 Prairie Public Broadcasting, Inc.