Everyone knows that smoking is a risk factor for many severe health issues, but one of the most serious risks that smoking poses is to the heart. Heart disease (including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure) is among the top killers in the world, and smoking significantly increases the risk of heart disease.

How Does Smoking Affect the Heart?

When a smoker lights up, the body is exposed to thousands of chemicals, with nicotine, carbon monoxide, and tar being the most well-known. Smoking changes the cardiovascular system in more than one way and increases the risk of heart disease.

1,Blood Vessel Damage

Nicotine and other elements of cigarette smoke narrow blood vessels and lead to nonuniformity of blood flow throughout body. With time this can lead to arterial damage resulting in the accumulation of fat within the arteries (atherosclerosis). This can lead to reduced blood flow to vital organs, such as the heart, and increase the risk of high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and a myriad of cardiovascular complications.

2,Increased Blood Pressure & Heart Rate

Smoking stimulates a reaction in the body that causes adrenaline to be released resulting in increased blood pressure and heart rate. This places an added burden on the heart and can lead to damage over time. High blood pressure is a major contributor to heart disease and when both the blood pressure and heart rate is increased, which is caused by smoking, then you increase your risk of heart attack and stroke.

3,Decreased Oxygen Delivery

Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide, a toxic gas that binds to hemoglobin, reducing the amount of oxygen delivered to the heart and organs. The heart must pump harder to circulate oxygenated blood to the body, contributing to many cardiovascular problems, including angina, heart attack, and heart failure in the long term.

4,Increased Blood Clots

Risk Smoking also increases the risk of blood clots. It damages the inner lining of blood vessels, supports a better environment for clots to form. A clot can block blood flow to the heart (causing a heart attack) or the brain (causing a stroke). Smokers are also more likely to develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT), the condition where a blood clot forms in the veins, increasing the risk of pulmonary embolism, a life-threatening blockage in the lung.

Long-term Consequences of Smoking on Your Heart

When someone extinguishes a cigarette, that does not mean the health risks of smoking are finished. The longer a person smokes, the greater the risk of heart disease. Chronic smoking can lead to the following:

• Chronic coronary artery disease, which is when the blood channels supplying blood to the heart become narrow and ultimately blocked.
• Heart attack and stroke risk, especially in those who have other risk factors like high cholesterol or diabetes.
• Weak heart muscles, resulting in heart failure, which means the heart is too compromised to pump enough blood.Even if someone stops smoking later in life, not all risks for damage to the heart and blood vessels are reversible. But the research universally indicates quitting smoking and the associated risks are significantly modified after quitting. After just 1 year of quitting smoking, heart disease risk is nearly cut in half and continues to go down over time.

Advantages of Stopping Cigarette Use

When it comes to your heart health, quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for your body. Once you quit, here is how your heart and cardiovascular health can start to recover:

• After 20 minutes: Your heart rate and blood pressure drop to normal levels.
• After 12 hours: The level of carbon monoxide in your blood returns to normal, which means more oxygen for your heart.
• After 2–12 weeks: Your circulation improves, and your lung function improves, resulting in the heart having to exert less effort to pump oxygen-rich blood through the body.
• After 1 year: Your risk of heart disease is cut in half.
• 5 years to 15 years: Your risk of stroke is the same as a non-smoker.
• 10 years: Your risk of dying from lung cancer is 50 percent less, and your risk of heart disease is the same as a non-smoker.

conclusion,

The relationship between smoking and the risk of heart disease is true. Smoking harms blood vessels, increases blood pressure, decreases oxygen levels, and increases risk for blood clots, all of which can increase risk for heart attack, stroke, and other heart-related conditions. The positive news is that quitting smoking can greatly decrease these risks and increase heart health over time.If you are a smoker, it is never too late to stop. Your heart—and overall health—will be grateful.