Atherosclerosis Causes

Have you ever observed a smoker enjoying the momentary pleasure of nicotine contained in each needed cigarette? He would probably inhale slowly and allow the smoke to travel down his windpipe. Unfortunately, along with each cigarette is the need for another cigarette, thus furthering the addiction uncontrollably. As his lungs are filling with nicotine, his bloodstream is carrying nicotine throughout his body systems, adversely affecting the heart and brain.

In spite of all the health warnings, teenagers continue to get hooked on tobacco even though they all know that it 's bad for them. Why do teens start to smoke? Teens find acceptance by peers if they smoke too. They often use cigarette smoking to avoid the pressures of everyday living.
Nicotine pushes the heart to work faster- 10-20 times more beats per minute. Nicotine also causes the blood vessels to constrict which eventually causes high blood pressure. Additionally, smoking seems to accelerate the process of hardening of the arteries, also known as "Atherosclerosis". Nicotine stays along the artery wall causing it to become thickened and less elastic. As these plaques or thickened secretions develop and hardened, the progress of Atherosclerosis causes even more serious problems in the cardiovascular system, such as heart attack and stroke. Plaques can also break, creating blood clots, which completely block an artery and can be very fatal. Damage to the heart muscles can disrupt the function of the organ. This is confirmed by the research study made by Centers for Disease Control which shows that "in 2002, 696,947 people died of heart disease( 51% of them women). This was 29% of all US death." Moreover, "21.6% of cigarette smokers are high risk for heart disease". (Deaths: Leading Causes for 2002). The bottom line is that smoking is costly, both to the individual smoker and to society as a whole. Studies from CDC clearly indicate regular cigarette smokers are high risk and may eventually die from their
She then faces the risk of miscarrying or going into premature labor. This is due to fetal oxygen deprivation and placental abnormalities induced by the carbon monoxide and nicotine in cigarette smoke. She is also at greater risk of losing the baby before his or her first birthday. Infants born to mothers who smoked in pregnancy are more likely to die of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), a medical condition in which seemingly healthy babies die in their sleep.

As these smokers ' babies grow older, they may fall behind in physical growth and intellectual development. Impaired physical, emotional and intellectual development is evident in most low birth weight babies of smoking mothers. This is due to the vasoconstriction or constriction of the blood vessels caused by the nicotine, which reduces the blood flow to the placenta.(Introduction to Maternity and Pediatric