“Within 48 Hours of quitting smoking“Health benefits start,” Dr. Steven Leers, who is a member of Society for Vascular Surgery, said. “Blood pressure decreases. Pulse rate drops. The body temperature of hands and feet increases. Carbon monoxide levels in the blood return to normal. The chance of a heart attack decreases. Nerve endings regrow. There’s an increase in the ability to taste and smell.”
Dr. Leers advocates for quitting smoking. There has been research linking smoking to lung disease, stroke, cancer and vascular disease.
“As a vascular surgeon, I’ve seen the damage done to veins and arteries from tobacco use,” said Dr. Leers. “Nicotine speeds up the heart and causes the body to release fat and cholesterol into the blood. All of these are related to vascular disease.”
Smoking can also accelerate the hardening and narrowing arteries. Smokers are up to four times more likely than others to develop blood clots.
According to the World Health Organization, (WHO), nearly 6 million people are killed each year by tobacco use. More than 600,000 people die each year from secondhand smoking.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2011 report “Tobacco Use: Targeting the Nation’s Leading Killer”Research shows that smoking causes 443,000 premature deaths each year due to tobacco use and secondhand smoke. Smokers die on average 13-14 years earlier than non-smokers.
“Nicotine in cigarettes raises blood pressure and constricts arteries,” said Dr. Leers.
Narrowed arteries may lead to:
* blood clots
* heart attacks (narrowed coronary artery)
* stroke (narrowed brain or neck artery)
* peripheral arterial disease (PAD) leading to gangrene and amputation (narrowed leg artery)
* erectile dysfunction for men in their 30s and 40s (narrowed artery to the penis).
“Smokers are more likely to develop aneurysms (ballooning of an artery due to a weakness in the blood vessel wall) than non-smokers,” said Dr. Leers. Log onto for more information about smoking and vascular diseases www.VascularWeb.org.
