Smoking Effects On Heart: How Cigarette Smoking Affects the Heart

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Nick in Heart Health

Question: How bad is smoking for heart? What if one smokes in limitation? Can low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes reduce risk of heart disease?

Cigarette Effects on Heart

For both men and women irrespective of their age cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for heart disease. Heart attacks are two and half times more common in smokers than non-smokers. The increase in risk is almost equivalent to or comparable to a cholesterol level of 300mg/dL or more. Estrogen is the main female hormone that provides protection to pre-menopausal women. Smoking depletes estrogen in the body and takes away the protection.

The number of cigarettes that one smokes in a day is responsible for the increase in risk. Even if an individual smokes about twenty cigarettes a day, his risk is two times more than non-smokers. That risk is equivalent to having a total cholesterol level of 300mg/dL. And an individual’s risk is three times more if he smokes about forty cigarettes a day as compared to a person who has never smoked. Chewing tobacco, cigarettes and pipes also increase the risk by about two times that of a non-smoker. The impact on health is likely to be more negative if one starts smoking quite early in life.

How Cigarette Smoking Affects the Heart

Low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes do not reduce risk of heart disease. But they may reduce risk of cancer. Studies have shown that people who smoke low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath after inhaling. They end up smoking more cigarettes unconsciously in an effect to maintain the nicotine levels to which their bodies are addicted. As a result the nicotine exposure is not reduced as one expects, and they also breathe in more of the other toxic substances contained in the smoke.

Tips on Quitting Smoking

  • The first and foremost thing is to be determined and resolute about quitting smoking
  • Begin with decreasing the frequency of smoking each day
  • Keep reminding yourself that smoking is not going to help you in any way. It is only going to weaken your respiratory systems and increase your susceptibility of cancer.
  • Talk about your dependence to your friends and family members. Their support and understanding is crucial for you to win the battle against cigarettes
  • Eat well, don’t skip your breakfast, drink plenty of water to fight withdrawal symptoms
  • Keep a photo of your friend, family or anyone who is most important for you. Below the photo write the words, ‘œI am quitting for you and myself’.  Keep this picture with you all the time. If you get the desire to smoke look at the picture, read the message and strengthen your will power.

Yoga to Quit Smoking:

Yoga is essential to inculcate a sense of determination and will power in a smoker, which is most essential for quitting smoking. Smoking is an effect of psychological and emotional problem and yoga helps to calm the mind and reinstate emotional harmony.  Yoga further creates a sense of awareness about ones body and also neutralizes the irresistible carving for nicotine, especially during the first few days of quitting the butt.

Anulom Vilom Pranayam is a simple procedure has several other benefits including controlling hypertension, sinusitis, depression, migraine, asthma, etc.

Procedure: Hold your right nasal cavity with your thumb; breathe through the left nasal cavity. Fill the lungs to half the capacity and hold your breath. Don’t exhale. Now hold your left nasal cavity and breathe through the right. Fill the lungs to their full capacity. HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR A FEW SECONDS.  Now, close the right nasal cavity with your thumb and breathe out.  Empty half your lung capacity. Subsequently close the left nasal cavity with your thumb and breathe out. REPEAT THIS ATLEAST THRICE A DAY. Rest whenever you need. Make sure you breathe into the lungs and not the stomach.

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