Smoking Health Dangers To Know

Everyone has heard of smoking health dangers that affect the lungs. Most people assume that while there are many known smoking health dangers (including some that even affect the brain!) the number one killer of smokers is lung cancer. However, statistics show that there is another, even more deadly smoking health danger: heart disease. In fact, heart disease kills about twice as many smokers as does lung cancer, and half again as many as emphysema.

How does smoking affect your heart? Well, the chemicals in cigarette smoke can actually lower good cholesterol and raise levels of bad cholesterol. We all know that cholesterol is bad for your heart -- but did you know that high cholesterol is among the many smoking health dangers?

The other chemicals in cigarette smoke can weaken arteries as they move through the bloodstream after attaching themselves to red blood cells, and when arteries near the heart are weakened, heart attacks can result as plaque builds up in the weakened areas. This can also happen in arteries near the brain, which can lead to strokes.

In fact, the entire circulatory system is prone to the same kind of smoking health dangers. Anywhere arteries are blocked, problems will arise. When this happens in the legs or arms, the results can include cramps, sores that don't heal, gangrene (tissue that dies because it doesn't get enough blood) and clots that can even break free and lodge in the heart, again causing heart attacks.

Another smoking health danger is that treatments for any of the above problems don't work as well when the patient smokes. The chemicals in cigarette smoke prevent things like cholesterol and plaque reduction medicines from working properly. This means that as long as you continue to smoke, you are at risk for all these circulatory smoking health dangers.