Tobacco on the heart, how does it affect you?

It is well known that the effects of tobacco on the heart, as well as on our blood vessels or on the rest of our organs, are very harmful. Smoking is related to numerous cardiovascular diseases, different types of cancer and innumerable pathologies.

There are currently one thousand one hundred smokers in the world. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death; About 8 million people die from tobacco and, unfortunately, not all are direct smokers.

In addition, scientists claim that, When smoking, the risk of dying from heart disease increases between 18 and 30%. In fact, you don't need to smoke too much for it. These statistical data are calculated with people who smoke around 10 cigarettes a day.

However, even if they are promoting outreach campaigns about how harmful smoking is, few people know what the effects of tobacco on the heart are. In this article we explain it to you.

Tobacco over the heart

The effects of tobacco on the heart vary according to the number of cigarettes that are smoked daily. Similarly, it also depends on how long this habit is maintained. However, Smoking is always harmful, even if it is done in small quantities.

Likewise, not being a smoker but surrounding yourself with someone who is, also causes harmful effects typical of tobacco on the heart. First, we must know that a smoker has three times the risk of coronary heart disease Than a non smoker.

The coronary arteries are those that are responsible for carrying oxygenated blood to the heart. Tobacco makes these arteries more prone to clogging. There are studies that relate the fact of quitting smoking with a lower chance of having a heart attack again By this situation.

Further, tobacco accelerates heart rate. That is, it increases the rhythm with which our heart beats. This may cause the heartbeat to be less effective, because the heart does not have time to completely fill in each heartbeat.

In the same way, it can cause, in addition to an acceleration, an alteration of the rhythm itself. It is another effect of tobacco on the heart: cardiac arrhythmias occur, which also impair normal functioning of this organ.

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Other effects of tobacco on the heart and vascular system

It has been shown that smoking causes the main arteries of our body to contract. By contracting, they offer more resistance to the passage of blood, so the heart needs more strength to make oxygenated blood reach all parts of the body.

That is to say, smoking increases blood pressure. High blood pressure carries numerous risks, from a stroke to a myocardial infarction. The infarction occurs when the obstruction of the coronary arteries causes the death of the heart muscle cells.

What substances produce these effects?

The harmful effects of tobacco on the heart, as well as on the rest of the organs, are due to all the toxic substances it possesses. However, There are two substances, specifically, that are closely related to the heart:

• Carbon monoxide: It occurs due to cigarette combustion. He is to blame for reducing the amount of oxygen that hemoglobin carries, which is the substance that carries it in our red blood cells. Therefore, our heart also has less oxygen to beat and function properly.
• Nicotine: It is a substance that acts on our nervous system. It increases the concentration of adrenaline and norepinephrine in the blood. The problem is that it increases blood cholesterol levels and stimulates the contraction of blood vessels.

Carbon monoxide also seems to be related to increased clotting.. This makes the risk of a clot or a thrombus clogging some of our arteries even greater.

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In conclusion