Usually, the main source of nicotine entering your body is through tobacco, and most of the time, via smoking. And tobacco is one of the most addictive substances responsible for taking the life of every 1 out of 5 people in the world. In India alone, the death toll due to tobacco is as high as 10 million lives per year. It is more than the deaths caused because of HIV, Illegal drug use, alcohol use, firearm-related incidents and road accidents, all combined. The heart bears a lot of damage because of smoking. The best heart specialists in Delhi NCR advises that people at risk of heart disease, stroke, and even diabetes should not be even around someone smoking. If you’re in Noida and suffering from any of the diseases associated with smoking, you can turn yourself in the hands of the best heart specialists in Noida present in the heart hospitals in Noida, to get the best treatment.
There are a number of ways in which nicotine affects your body. The hardest effect being on the cardiovascular system. Researches show that when you smoke, your heart rate increases, major arteries have faster cholesterol deposition and also cause an irregular heart rhythm, making your heart work harder than usual. Apart from these, smoking also increases blood pressure and thus, increasing the risk of stroke.
The nicotine in cigarettes, as discussed is highly addictive and can have withdrawal symptoms when someone tries quitting. Another damage is that nicotine also contributes to hardening your artery walls. The thickening of the artery walls can lead to Atherosclerosis which restricts the flow of oxygen-rich blood to different parts and organs of your body.
Similarly, Ischemic heart disease happens when plaques build up in the arteries which supply blood to the heart, known as coronary arteries in medical terms. And with the turn of pages of time, this heart disease can cause chest pain, heart failure, heart attack, arrhythmia or worse, even death.
Talking about arteries, peripheral artery disease (P.A.D) is yet one more condition in which plaque builds up in the arteries which carry blood to the major organs of the body such as head and limbs. Smoking is a major cause for people to suffer from P.A.D. People suffering from P.A.D are at a greater risk of heart attack and stroke.
Nicotine directly and adversely affects your cardiovascular system and can eventually become the cause of a heart attack. But everything being said, it’s never too late and never too difficult to quit smoking. Ultimately, it’s the nicotine that you’re really trying to quit and once you start giving up on smoking and nicotine, there are some withdrawal symptoms you might experience, such as –
- In the starting, you may have trouble thinking.
- You might start getting hungrier than normal.
- You will feel irritated, anxious or angry.
- Naturally, your body will crave tobacco.
It’s not easy to quit on the first attempt and many people have tried several times before finally giving up on smoking. Nicotine is just as addictive as other substances such as alcohol, cocaine, and heroin. However, the good part is that quitting smoking has direct and immediate advantages for your health and heart.
For the people diagnosed with coronary heart disease, quitting to smoke significantly lessens the risk of recurrent heart attack and cardiovascular death. Many cases showed the reduction to be as significant as 50% less. This is a clear fact that once you stop smoking, the heart diseases associated with smoking starts to decrease soon and only continues to decrease with time. And as shocking as it may sound, but quitting smoking can lower the heart diseases risk as much as, or more than what common medicines used to lower heart disease risk, including aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, and statin.