Smoking is one of the main factors which cause heart attacks. Let me elaborate. The coronary arteries provide the heart’s own blood supply and they carry the fuel and oxygen needed for its efficient working. When these arteries become diseased, especially as a consequence of smoking, their lining becomes thick, thereby reducing the flow of blood, especially when the heart has to work harder when its ‘owner’ performs some exercise or gets excited. If there is a large amount of obstruction to blood flow, a part of the heart muscle gets damaged. Such a situation is called ‘heart attack’. Smoking leads to more deaths due to heart attacks than from any other disease.
The risk of heart attacks rises with the intensity of smoking. This risk is particularly higher in the case of smokers below the age of 50. The death rates of such persons due to heart attacks are ten times greater than those of non- smokers of the same age.
You are more prone to a heart attack if you are a smoker in addition to other risks. Cigarette smokers switching over to pipes or cigars do not reduce the risk of heart attack. Carbon monoxide and nicotine are the two toxic substances which reduce the oxygen supply and also enhance blood clotting. Cigarette smoking causes crucial blocks in leg blood vessels and might lead to the loss of a leg. These occurrences very rare in non-smokers. Filter cigarettes are no less dangerous than non-filter cigarettes. Passive smoking can be harmful to people with a known history of heart disease. Three million deaths occur due to smoking worldwide, annually. Ten per cent of British children in the age group 11-15 years smoke despite a ban on cigarette sales to them.
The world’s top brand of cigarette brings in $ 23 billion sales revenue per yearned-smokers are much less likely to fall victim to heart attacks than those who continue to smoke. You stand to save nearly Rs. 10,000 a year if you have been smoking 10 to 20 cigarettes a day. If you have been smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day for 30 years, you would have smoked more than two hundred thousand cigarettes! As already mentioned the risk of heart attack increases with the numbers of cigarettes smoked. It should be borne in mind that those who start smoking at 15 years of age run a greater risk of having a heart attack than those who start after 20.
If you are still healthy, it is important to stop smoking before you develop an illness. If you have just suffered a heart attack, one of the most important decisions you should make is never to smoke again. A heart attack provides you a very strong motive for stopping smoking.
Two out of three persons who have stopped smoking have asserted that they found it surprisingly easy. Keep a record of your smoking pattern, begin cutting down on the number of cigarettes on a daily basis till you reach the zero level. Find a friend to support and encourage you in your endeavor. Also ask your doctor to help you.
Be prepared for a radical change in your lifestyle. Go in for plenty of exercise, which will help you in relieving tension. Drink plenty of fruit juices. Find a new hobby or listen to soothing music. The craving for cigarette will automatically cease in a few weeks or months.
If you have suffered a setback and you begin smoking again, analyze carefully the reasons for your failure. If at first you don’t succeed, quit, quit, quit and quit again.