What Smoking Does to Your Heart

Most of Nicole Sully’s patients know that smoking damages their lungs. When she tells them the risk to their heart is even greater, “it’s sometimes surprising news,” says Sully, D.O., a family medicine physician with Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.

But it’s a fact: Of the 500,000 deaths a year caused by smoking, the majority are from heart disease, not emphysema or cancer.

What makes this habit so damaging to your heart? “Cigarettes have so many different chemicals that we don’t know all their effects yet,” says Gerald Pytlewski, D.O., a cardiologist at the hospital. “But we do know that nicotine constricts the blood vessels.” They’re designed to dilate (and boost blood flow) when you exercise, but in smokers this doesn’t happen.

“The short-term effect on your blood vessels from smoking two cigarettes is equivalent to eating a very high-fat meal,” Pytlewski says.

Long-term, the nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarettes also cause inflammation in the blood vessels, which leads to cholesterol deposits and plaque. And some of the other toxins in cigarette smoke lower good cholesterol (HDL) and raise the bad kind.

Smoking is particularly dangerous for certain groups. “If you have diabetes, you’re already at higher risk for heart disease. Cigarettes really compound the risk,” Sully says. Smoking is also a special concern in those under age 50. “Younger people typically don’t have blood pressure or cholesterol problems,” Pytlewski says. “Smoking is the one heart disease risk factor they may have—and they can and do have heart attacks.”

Smoking’s effects are cumulative, meaning the more you smoke and the longer your habit, the greater your chances of a heart attack. That’s what makes starting in your teens so dangerous, Pytlewski says. And smoking affects not just the health of the smoker, but of everyone who lives with him or her. “Many of my women patients who smoke are more motivated to quit when they realize how much it will protect their children,” Sully says.

Quitting isn’t easy. “Nicotine is a highly addictive substance,” Pytlewski says. “The good news is that we have very effective quitting techniques today.” Counseling, group support and new medications could help you kick the habit and do your heart a lifelong favor

Want to Know More about diabetes and heart disease, the effects of passive smoke, or how to quit? Call 610-402-CARE.

Published from Healthy You Magazine, September-October 2008

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