Smoking And Your Heart
Most people know that cigarette and tobacco smoking increases the risk of lung cancer and breathing problems, but few realize that it also greatly increases the risk of heart disease, peripheral vascular disease and abdominal aortic aneurysm.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the effects of cigarette smoking account for about 480,000 deaths each year in the United Statesthat is nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths. In fact, more deaths are caused each year by smoking than deaths from human immunodeficiency virus , illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle accidents, and firearm-related incidents combined. Also, about 80% of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are because those patients were smokers.
How Does Smoking Affect Your Health And Your Blood Pressure
Each cigarette you smoke causes a temporary rise in blood pressure. Smoking damages the walls of your blood vessels, leading to , where fat is laid down in your arteries walls, making the arteries narrower. It also makes your blood more likely to clot and forces your heart to work harder. These changes can lead to and .
also causes narrowing of the arteries. So if you have high blood pressure and you smoke, the process happens much faster, dramatically raising your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Smoking also has the more well-known effects on your lungs, stomach, mouth, throat and skin, causing cancer and pre-mature ageing, and can even effect your bones and your reproductive system.
Smoking Leads To High Blood Pressure
Effect on your cardiovascular health and the impact of quitting
Smoking causes hypertension in the short term and over a long period of time. This puts both young and older smokers at higher risk of developing high blood pressure when compared to those who do not smoke.
A longitudinal study of nearly 29,000 people, ages 36 to 80, found that smoking not only raises blood pressure over time but also puts you at higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, a chronic and progressive disease in which plaques build up in the walls of arteries. The study cites smoking as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Smoking raises your blood pressure immediately by activating your sympathetic nervous system. Long-term smoking contributes to the development of chronic high blood pressure by accelerating arterial aging, or how quickly the arteries become damaged.
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How Does Cannabis Affect High Blood Pressure
Because elevated blood pressure levels are typically inconsistent with good health, it is vital to understand how cannabis affects these levels. Research indicates that following cannabis consumption, users will experience a low to moderate increase in blood pressure and heart rate, with a subsequent decrease in blood pressure . Elevated heart rate and blood pressure reach their highest point approximately 15 minutes after consumption.
After repeated use, however, the user may develop a tolerance to cannabis. This tolerance can cause the body to skip elevated blood pressure altogether. Both anecdotally and in research studies, cannabis is advantageous for hypertension management.
These effects on blood pressure are well understood in medical circles.
However, as is the case with many aspects of cannabis use, research studies that go much further are sparse. Therefore, it is not fully understood the long-term adverse effects conversely, any positive effects are not thoroughly understood.
Most research regarding high blood pressure that does exist is generalized, zeroing in on THC while neglecting the study of the many other cannabinoids. It stands to reason that the psychoactive cannabinoid THC would cause a different reaction than the non-intoxicating cannabinoid CBD. Studies typically do not differentiate results based on the method of administration, making specific findings difficult.
Fatigue And High Blood Pressure: Is There A Connection
Blood pressure refers to how hard your blood pushes against the walls of your arteries. Its normal for blood pressure to rise and fall a bit during the day. However, when blood pressure remains high over a sustained period of time, you likely have high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.
High blood pressure is fairly common. In the United States, nearly half of adults have high blood pressure or take medication to treat it.
High blood pressure has a well-deserved reputation as the silent killer. Thats because there are often no symptoms until theres a life threatening complication, like a heart attack or stroke.
Some people with high blood pressure do experience fatigue, but whats the connection between them? This article will help provide answers to that question.
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The Link Between Smoking And Blood Pressure
Smoking causes a temporary rise in blood pressure. Every time you smoke, you immediately raise your blood pressure by activating your sympathetic nervous system .
Your SNS controls your bodys response to danger or stress. When your SNS is activated, hormonal signals cause extra blood flow to your muscles. This causes you to feel more tense and alert. As a result, your pulse and blood pressure will rise.
Smoking triggers your SNS and causes this same rise in heart rate and blood pressure. Over time, this can damage the walls of your arteries and put you at higher risk of many serious heart conditions.
Smoking can also increase the risk of the buildup of fatty substances known as plaque inside your arteries. This condition is called atherosclerosis. It can lead to heart attack and stroke if left untreated. Hypertension can increase the rate of plaque buildup inside your arteries.
Smoking And High Blood Pressure
Regularly drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure over time.
Staying within the recommended levels is the best way to reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure:
- men and women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week
- spread your drinking over 3 days or more if you drink as much as 14 units a week
Alcohol is also high in calories, which will make you gain weight and can further increase your blood pressure.
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High Blood Pressure Smoking And Alcohol Are Biggest Health Risks
People with high blood pressure are at the greatest risk of ill health and an early death, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study, with tobacco use as the second biggest danger, and alcohol use third. Among young people, aged between 15 and 49, a drinking habit is the most likely cause of disability and an early grave.
High blood pressure can be caused or made worse by diet, such as too much sodium in salt and salty foods, but some populations have a genetic predisposition, as in India. In Europe and North America, many middle-aged people are given pills to bring their blood pressure down because it is a big risk factor for stroke, one of the main causes of death in the world today.
The IHME study finds that in 2010, high blood pressure was to blame for 9.4 million early deaths and 7% of DALYs . This compared with 6.3 million people killed as a consequence of smoking or inhaling other peopleâs smoke. Tobacco also caused 6.3% of global DALYs.
Alcohol caused 5 million deaths in 2010 and 5.5% of global DALYs. Drinking can cause liver cancer and cirrhosis, but also plays a part in other diseases, such as cancer of the oesophagus, and kills because intoxicated people often end up in violent incidents and accidents. The study shows that alcohol has become a big problem now in eastern Europe, where it is responsible for a quarter of all disease. It also takes a big toll across Latin America.
Understanding Blood Pressure Readings
Despite the availability of free blood pressure reading machines at certain pharmacies, a diagnosis of high or low blood pressure must be made by a medical professional.
Blood pressure is read in mm HG, which translates to millimeters of mercury. The very first accurate blood pressure gauges operated using mercury and it is still the standard unit of measurement used in medicine today. A blood pressure reading consists of two different categories, systolic mm HG , and diastolic mm HG .
- Systolic BP: This is the first, or top number in a blood pressure reading. It is an indicator of how much pressure oneâs blood is exerting against the artery walls when the heart beats.
- Diastolic BP: This is the second, or bottom number in a blood pressure reading. It indicates how much pressure oneâs blood is exerting against the artery walls when the heart is at rest.
| Blood Pressure Category |
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What Are The Side Effects Of Hrt
About 5 to 10 percent of women treated with HRT have side effects which may include breast tenderness, fluid retention and mood swings. In most cases, these side effects are mild and do not require the woman to stop HRT therapy.
If you have bothersome side effects from HRT, talk to your doctor. He or she can often reduce these side effects by changing the type and dosage of estrogen and/or progestin.
If you have a uterus and take progestin, monthly vaginal bleeding is likely to occur. If it will bother you to have your monthly menstrual cycle, discuss this with your health care provider.
Can Quitting Smoking Raise Your Blood Pressure
When you decide to quit smoking, it can be a scary challenge to face. Having to cut a daily habit out of your life for good may seem incredibly difficult, but you are more than capable of doing it. Deciding to quit smoking has countless benefits for your health, but can quitting smoking raise your blood pressure?
Looking after your blood pressure can prevent you from suffering from a heart attack, stroke, and heart disease. You need to make sure that you are lowering your blood pressure to reduce your risk of experiencing these life-threatening conditions, but you want to make sure that you are doing the right things to lower it.
Find out below if quitting smoking raises or lowers your blood pressure so that you can begin to live a healthy life and drastically reduce your chances of experiencing life-threatening conditions.
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What Is Blood Pressure
Blood pressure measures the force of blood against the walls of the arteries, the blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood to all body parts.
Blood pressure measurements involve two numbers. The first number, systolic, denotes the pressure within the arteries during a heartbeat. The second number, diastolic, denotes the pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between each beat.
Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 millimeters of mercury . Some doctors define high blood pressure as a reading consistently
2018 study exploring the effect of smoking on high blood pressure in people in Indonesia did not find an association.
Conversely, research from 2020 did find a link between smoking and an increased risk of masked high blood pressure. This refers to blood pressure that is normal in a doctors office but high during daytime hours when away from a healthcare setting.
Typically, smoking one cigarette raises a persons heart rate and blood pressure for 1530 minutes. So, when people smoke frequently, this effect happens over and over throughout the day.
Since a persons blood pressure in a doctors office is away from the influence of smoke, it can appear normal here. Yet it is usually elevated during the day when they smoke.
Smoking two cigarettes per hour can lead to a 56 mm Hg increase in daytime blood pressure.
Smoking as well as exposure to secondhand smoke can also damage the walls of blood vessels and the likelihood of atherosclerosis.
How To Spot High Blood Pressure
Some people are unable to tell if they have high blood pressure as the symptoms can be due to other conditions, not necessarily high blood pressure. It is important to keep an eye out for any changes and to consult your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms.
- Struggling to catch your breath
- Blood appearing in your urine
- Regular headaches
- Regular Dizziness
- Regular blurred vision
If you experience any of these symptoms, this can be a sign of high blood pressure. You can also purchase a blood pressure monitor and record your blood pressure to see if it is higher than recommended. It is always advised that you contact your doctor to discuss these symptoms and changes that you can make to your lifestyle.
As some of these symptoms do not always mean that you have high blood pressure, lots of people dont usually associate them with high blood pressure. It is important that if you suspect that you are suffering from high blood pressure that you seek help.
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What Effect Does Cbd Have On The Heart Rate
Based on the same study referenced above, there is evidence that CBD may have an effect on heat rate. In particular, the study demonstrated that individuals who were administered CBD experienced a +10bpm increase in their heart rate.
A 2009 study, on the other hand, which was carried out on a pack of rats, showed that in stressful situations, a dose of CBD for blood pressure has the potential to reduce the heart rate in mammals.
In a subsequent study in 2017, individuals who were subjected to stressful stimuli were administered CBD. Compared to individuals who were given a placebo, medical marijuana had an effect on lowering their heart rate.
Again, further research will be required to support these findings and inform doctors on how to treat patients with heart conditions using CBD.
Limit Your Alcohol Intake
Regularly drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure over time.
Staying within the recommended levels is the best way to reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure:
- men and women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week
- spread your drinking over 3 days or more if you drink as much as 14 units a week
Alcohol is also high in calories, which will make you gain weight and can further increase your blood pressure.
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Cannabis Use And High Blood Pressure
Smoking of any kind is discouraged by medical experts when it comes to managing blood pressure levels. Of course, cigarettes and tobacco account for most often cautioned against, but studies conducted on cannabis smoking show that blood pressure rises a bit, shortly after consumption but then drops to lower levels as the high sets in.
While the National Institute of Health has reported that, THC inhalation evokes a greater and longer-lasting decrease of arterial blood pressure in hypertensive as compared to normotensive individuals, A Harvard Medical School study concluded that smoking marijuana increased the risk of heart attack by five times within the first hour of smoking.
However, the risk is comparative with that of sexual activity which also increases the risk of heart attacks and is also much less likely that with cocaine or alcohol use. Also, greater heart attack risk was only linked by determining which activities were performed within the year leading up to their heart attack.
Out of 3,880 men and women, only 124 subjects had smoked within that year, and the risks were also compounded by other contributing factors such as poor diet and being overweight.
What About Medicine
Many different kinds of medicine can be used to treat high blood pressure . These are called antihypertensive medicines.
The goal is to get your blood pressure to a normal level with medicine that is easy to take and has few, if any, side effects. Some people have to take this medicine for the rest of their lives.
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How To Quit Smoking
You need to prepare and get support. Use these tips to get started: