Annie Le

Smoking has led to cardiac problems in more than 50% of adults between the ages of 40 and 59. Although smoking rates have quickly dropped over the past few decades, many people are still unaware of how smoking impacts not just their lifestyle but also their heart health. Smokers are in jeopardy of having deadly heart attacks, strokes, unexpected heart failure, and many other things. Additionally, smoking has several other negative effects on the heart, both short and long-term. 

Why do people smoke?

Most often, people use tobacco for stress-relief and enjoyment. Tobacco often acts as a “self-medication’ to facilitate one’s pain. People may also smoke because of environmental influences, or home-life conflicts. When you smoke, nicotine from cigarettes enters your body, activates receptors, and releases dopamine, a brain neurotransmitter. Dopamine allows you to feel pleasure and satisfaction, ultimately leading to addiction. 

Short Term Impacts

Studies have shown that smoking has short-term impacts on the heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. An increase in heart rate could indicate that the heart is struggling to provide the body with enough blood, which could result in heart failure. This is because heart failure is brought on by the heart having to work harder to pump the body’s lower quantity of red blood cells around in order to supply it with oxygen. Furthermore, high blood pressure causes the skin temperature to drop, and the amount of oxygen carried by the blood during exercise to decrease, both of which contribute to shortness of breath. People who have these problems will eventually have to invest more effort into maintaining their health. 

Long Term Impacts

Smoking also has some long-term side effects, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and chronic artery damage. A large portion of people who use tobacco, nicotine, cigarettes, or smoke in any way are at risk for peripheral artery disease (PAD). Plaque buildup in the arteries that provide blood to your brain, arms, legs, and organs causes this condition. People with PAD are more prone to experience heart attacks and strokes, which could harm their hearts permanently. Cancer is another condition that PAD has in common with. Cancer is widely recognized for its protracted and difficult treatment regimen, which has a significant impact on the remainder of a patient’s life.  

Summary

In conclusion, smoking can seriously hurt and cause destruction to the cardiovascular system. Smoking produces both short-term problems that have an impact on daily life and long-term problems within the cardiovascular system that take a long time to recover from.