Tobacco Smoking | Healthy Heart Net

Reduce Your Heart Disease Risk By Avoiding Tobacco Products

December 13, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Cardiovascular professionals and other medical professionals all point toward heart disease as a leading cause of death for both men and women. Along with diet and exercise, reducing, or better yet, eliminating tobacco use can significantly lower your heart disease risk.

Smoking or other tobacco use (smokeless tobacco and so on) is one of the major causations or risk factor for contributing to heart disease. Medical professionals state that no amount of smoking is considered safe. You may think that smokeless tobacco or low tar and nicotine cigarettes are safe, but they are risky as well. And so is exposure to secondhand smoke.

One of the reasons that tobacco smoke presents such a high-risk level for heart and circulatory disease are the more than 4,800 chemicals found in smoking. These chemicals can damage not only your heart, but your circulatory system as well—narrowing of the arteries and such.

Nicotine makes your heart work harder and increases your blood pressure and heart rate. Cigarettes contain carbon monoxide that replaces the healthy oxygen in your blood. Your heart then has to work harder to circulate oxygen through your body.

Social smoking (situations such as “only” with friends when out in social situations) is also a risk. Other risks include women who take birth control pills and smoke. They have a high change of stroke or heart attack than their counterparts who avoid both. And this risk increases when women are over the age of 35.

However, if you quit, within one year, your risk of developing heart disease drops dramatically. And it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been smoking, you will reduce your risk factor. So it’s never to late to quit. Find a physician who can help you with a smoking cessation program today. Join a support group! It may not be easy, but it will be worth it!

Filed Under: Heart Care Tagged With: Effects, Health, Heart Disease, Tobacco smoking

When It Is Time To Quit

December 11, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Everyone knows that smoking is not good for us. People who smoke two cigarettes a day know this, people who smoke three packs of cigarettes a day know this. Cigarette smoking is an addiction. Smokers do not often think of it that way, as it is legal and they are not out on the streets trying to score a pack of Marlboros. This addiction is never more prevalent then when it becomes absolutely necessary to break the habit.

There are many, many good reasons to stop smoking. It is an expensive habit. A pack a day can cost thousands of dollars over a year. It is, at least in most parts of the country, not allowed in most public places. No more lighting up at the restaurant or in the Mall. Almost all school zones and places where children are present are “NO SMOKING” zones now. It bothers other people. Nonsmokers do not like to be too close to smokers. Smoke causes an odor on the clothing, on the breath, and basically in the air surrounding the smoker.

All good reasons to quit. However, when a diagnosis of heart disease is made, your doctor will suggest, event insist, that you quit smoking. Your heart is a muscle and when you smoke, you are literally choking the muscle. Sometimes a heart attack kills a person. If you are lucky, your heart may give you warning signs, a little chest pain, some shortness of breath. When you get this checked and you get a diagnosis of heart disease, it is time to quit. It is a proven fact that if you have to have stents placed in your heart, smoking can cause your arteries to clog and block the stents, thereby causing a heart attack.

Smoking has no redeeming qualities, however it has many bad consequences. Give up the habit, be good to your heart.

Filed Under: Heart Care, Heart Surgeons, Surgery Tagged With: Cigarette, Health, Heart Disease, Smoke, Smoking ban, Smoking cessation, Tobacco, Tobacco smoking

Cigarette Chemicals and Your Heart

November 10, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Your heart is the center of your being. It moves oxygen containing blood to the rest of your body. If something is wrong with your heart, your whole body is at risk. When people think of health problems from smoking, lung cancer and asthma are what come to mind. But 9 out of 10 bypass surgeries are because of smoking.

What’s in cigarettes that is so bad for your health? You would think that breathing in smoke would be a bad idea in general, but people have been smoking for thousands of years. When you inhale on a cigarette, you are breathing in around 4,000 chemicals. Most of those are known carcinogens and toxins, but are still used in most popular brands. Mercury, nickel and lead are a few of the chemicals.

Cigarettes are known for causing nicotine additions, but the nicotine should be the least of your concerns. Nicotine itself is a stimulant similar to coffee–it may be slightly additive, but there is very little nicotine in cigarettes. The ammonia in a regular cigarette actually increases nicotine’s addictive properties, along with lots of other chemicals. If you’re a smoker, you probably know the difficulties of trying to quit. But don’t give up yet, you have a way out.

Electronic cigarettes are the “new thing” when it comes to smoking and your health. They are less expensive in the long run and are free of those nasty chemicals. Instead of igniting chemicals and tar, they simple make a harmless vapor. The vapor contains nothing but water, nicotine and flavorings. No lead, nickel or mercury. Electronic cigarettes can look and feel like regular cigarettes; they can be white with an orange “filter” and a glowing ember. If you’re looking to quit, these are a great choice. Instead of quitting cold turkey, you can ease off the habit while breathing easier. Your heart will thank you.

Filed Under: Cancer, Drug Addiction Tagged With: Cigarette, Electronic cigarette, Health, Lung cancer, Nicotine, Specific Substances, Tobacco, Tobacco smoking

Women and Smoking–The Risks

August 12, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image by Kanaka Menehune via Flickr

Here’s some information about the dangers of smoking—and it’s important even f you don’t smoke. Even if you don’t smoke you may work or live in a situation where there are smokers.

Smoking is the single number one activity that causes preventable deaths and diseases. Unfortunately the decline of women smokers leveled off in the 1990s and the rates were increasing among teenage girls. This emphasizes the fact that most women started their smoking habit as teens.

Another interesting, but frightening statistic, is that almost 3 million American women, since 1980, have died from smoking related diseases. These diseases include cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory causes. And there are other risks to fertility and conception caused by smoking.

Atherosclerosis or the build up of fat in the arteries is caused mainly by smoking. This condition cause the blood supply to the heart to decrease, and this may cause a heart attack. Atherosclerosis also may increase the risk of stroke. Statistics say that women who smoke are between two and six times more likely to experience a heart attack. And the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked—essentially no amount of smoking is safe.

By quitting, you can prolong your life; reduce the chances of cardiovascular or other disease. You will also reduce the likelihood of diabetes, cancer, ulcers and other diseases. And you will look and feel better!

The media, doctors and our friends have all told us that smoking is not good for us. You may be trying to quit, or have tried to quit in the past. While knowing the health issues that can arise from smoking, quitting smoking is not an easy thing to do. But as we know, quitting smoking—even if you have smoked for years—can be beneficial to your health. Here’s some information about the dangers of smoking—and it’s important even f you don’t smoke. Even if you don’t smoke you may work or live in a situation where there are smokers. Smoking is the single number one activity that causes preventable deaths and diseases. Unfortunately the decline of women smokers leveled off in the 1990s and the rates were increasing among teenage girls. This emphasizes the fact that most women started their smoking habit as teens. Another interesting, but frightening statistic, is that almost 3 million American women, since 1980, have died from smoking related diseases. These diseases include cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory causes. And there are other risks to fertility and conception caused by smoking. Atherosclerosis or the build up of fat in the arteries is caused mainly by smoking. This condition cause the blood supply to the heart to decrease, and this may cause a heart attack. Atherosclerosis also may increase the risk of stroke. Statistics say that women who smoke are between two and six times more likely to experience a heart attack. And the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked—essentially no amount of smoking is safe. By quitting, you can prolong your life; reduce the chances of cardiovascular or other disease. You will also reduce the likelihood of diabetes, cancer, ulcers and other diseases. And you will look and feel better!

Filed Under: Cancer, Drug Addiction, Fitness Tagged With: Cancer, Cigarette, Tobacco smoking

Help Yourself Breathe Easier With Electronic Cigarette Starter Kits

August 1, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

A lot of men have trouble with their breathing… after they’ve just run up a few flights of stairs. Since most men don’t smoke, they can breathe reasonably well most of the time, unless they exert themselves heavily. However, a man who smokes can develop a whole lot of different complications that impact his daily life. Among these are COPD (or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and lung cancer. These are more than just little annoyances – they can kill you with frightening ease. However, avoiding both smoking and smoky environments is a good start toward preventing these problems from occurring in the first place. But of course, you might already smoke.

If you already smoke, all hope is far from lost. You just need to quit that ridiculous, expensive habit. It’s a lot like hiring a hit man to shoot you – and you can find much better, healthier ways to have fun, with or without having to pay for them. As well, a lot of the ways you can enjoy your time don’t even involve spending a penny. Obviously, finding someone to spend quality time with is enjoyable and low cost, as is a good workout. You could even try taking up a hobby that challenges your mind, such as chess or poker.

But smoking can be a dastardly habit to kick. So many men have tried and failed, despite their best intentions. Obviously, you are going to want to limit your contact with people who smoke, just as an alcoholic limits (if he doesn’t entirely cut off) his contact with the drinkers from his old life. You can still like the people – you just can’t hang around them while they practice that nasty habit of theirs. Another way to help you break the habit is with electronic cigarette starter kits. They can give you the nicotine, without all the tar.

Filed Under: Cancer, Drug Addiction Tagged With: Electronic cigarette, Health, Tobacco smoking

The Advantages of E-cigarettes

June 11, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Responding to changes in consumer tastes, cigarettes, like food items and automobiles, have been refined for the better. The choice for the sanitary and health conscious smoker has come in the form of e-cigarettes. In many fashions, it is an improved version of the traditional cigarette–both for the smoker and non-smoker. Cleanliness, healthiness and convenience are now staples to this new electronic smoking experience.

Operating with a battery and atomizer that vaporizes liquid nicotine, electronic cigarettes do not burn tobacco, so they are a reusable product only requiring the occasional replacement of a small cartridge. This is a testament to their environmental benefits in that there is no longer a careless accumulation of butts and packaging. Also, the lack of burning tobacco means a lack of ash, as these cigarettes use an LED to replicate the lighting. The liquid nicotine is released in a noticeable vapor, maintaining the exhalation smokers are accustomed to, but there is no actual smoke that can permeate clothes, homes, cars or a person’s hands and hair, like regular cigarettes.

The absence of smoke is also a signal to e-cigarettes health related advantages. Without firsthand smoke, there is no secondhand smoke, much to the benefit of surrounding non-smokers. Containing only water, the liquid nicotine and selected flavorings, the tar, carcinogens, carbon monoxide and particulates that have marred their predecessors are nonexistent in electronic cigarettes.

Lastly, electronic cigarettes are convenient and save smokers money. They do not require the clutter of smoking accessories such as lighters, matches or ash trays. And, because they last longer, they are much more cost efficient than regular cigarettes overall. The replacement cartridges are easy to find and cheaper. Plus, for the smoker looking to cut back, the nicotine pads come in varying strengths giving the smoker more control, so they do not have to resort to annoying patches or bland gum.

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Cigarette, Electronic cigarette, Tobacco smoking