Smoking cigarettes: A doctor explains the cardiovascular risks

Key Points:

• A global study across 46 countries found that while over 90% of smokers know smoking causes lung cancer, significantly fewer understand its links to cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks, strokes, and the dangers of secondhand smoke on heart health.
• Smoking causes cardiovascular harm by damaging blood vessel linings, promoting inflammation, increasing blood clotting, raising heart rate and blood pressure, and reducing blood oxygen, with risks evident even at low levels of smoking.
• Secondhand smoke poses serious cardiovascular risks, causing an estimated 1.3 million deaths worldwide in 2021 among non-smokers, yet awareness of these dangers remains low, especially in high-income countries.
• Quitting smoking entirely is crucial, as even small amounts increase cardiovascular risk; benefits to heart health begin soon after quitting, emphasizing that it is never too late to stop.
• Smokers are advised to seek effective cessation treatments and protect others by avoiding smoking indoors or in enclosed spaces, highlighting that smoking harms extend beyond lung cancer to widespread cardiovascular damage.