Smoking, the heart and circulation

For further information see the British Heart Foundation webpage on smoking and COVID-19 SMOKING AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Smoking ranks among the top causes of cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, peripheral artery disease and abdominal aortic aneurysm.4 Smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in several ways: • Smoking damag. [...] When someone smokes the nicotine in the cigarette increases their blood pressure and heart rate, causing their heart to work harder and increasing their risk of heart disease or stroke.19 Clinical trials on the sole use of nicotine in the form of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) in patients with underlying, stable coronary disease, suggest that use of therapeutic nicotine does not increase cardi. [...] It increases the rate of quitting by 50% to 60% and does not increase the risk of heart attacks.21 For information about the impact of e-cigarette use on CVD risk see page 4 ‘E-cigarettes and the heart.’ 2 SMOKING, MORTALITY AND LIFE EXPECTANCY Throughout the first half of. [...] The 1990 US Surgeon General report firmly established that smoking is the “most important of the known modifiable risk factors for CHD.”31 This relationship has been demonstrated across racial and ethnic groups and in women younger than 50 years of age, even though the incidence of CHD in this population is low.32 33 In the UK, the British Regional Heart Study cited smoking as one of the three pri. [...] The 21st century hazards of smoking and benefits of stopping: a prospective study of one million women in the UK.