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Exploring the Connection Between Smoking and Peripheral Vascular Disease

Smoking is injurious to health. But most people associate the harmful effect of smoking only on the lungs. While smoking affects the lungs, it also is dangerous for other organs, including your vascular system.

This article will talk about how smoking can lead to peripheral vascular disease.

What is Peripheral Vascular Disease?

Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a blood circulation disorder in which the heart and brain's blood vessels (arteries or veins) become narrow, blocked, or spasm. The common symptoms of PVD are pain and fatigue in the legs (mainly on exertion). The pain improves gradually with rest.

How Does Smoking Affect Your Blood Vessels?

Smoking damages the blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke. Nicotine and carbon monoxide, the two main chemicals in cigarettes, are the primary culprit for the problem.

  • Nicotine: It is an addictive chemical that has powerful effects on arteries. Its stimulant action increases the heartbeat, blood pressure and causes narrowing of arteries. All this makes it harder for the heart to pump blood through narrow blood vessels.
  • Carbon monoxide: It reduces oxygen delivery and causes atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a condition characterized by hard and narrow arteries due to the buildup of fat and cholesterol cells (plaque) on the inner lining of the blood vessels.

Other Effects

Smoking causes a decrease in good cholesterol levels (HDL) and increases bad cholesterol (LDL). Moreover, it reduces the movement of cholesterol through the body, which causes its accumulation on the vessel wall, thus putting you at a greater risk of heart attack, stroke, and limb loss.

Smoking significantly increases the risk of developing blood clots. If blood clots a blood vessel, the surrounding organs or tissues do not supply oxygen and nutrients. Thus, it may result in heart attacks, strokes, and gangrene of the leg.

Smoking and Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

As mentioned before, smoking narrows the arteries and increases the risk of clogged arteries by forming clots. Smoking is thus a primary cause of PAD, especially in people with a history of circulatory disorder.

PAD is a condition in which the arteries supplying the arms and legs are blocked or narrowed.

Besides, smokers who get PAD are at a higher risk of getting leg pain, gangrene, and needing amputation than non-smokers.

Smoking and Aneurysm

Aneurysms are bulges in the vessel wall, increasing the risk of rupture. Studies have shown that smoking has harmful effects on aneurysms.

Smokers are more likely to get aneurysms than non-smokers, and the aneurysms are at a higher risk of rupture.

When these aneurysms rupture, they cause internal bleeding, which can be dangerous.

What Happens When You Stop Smoking?

You may see the following effects after 48 hours:

  • Normal pulse rate
  • Normal oxygen levels
  • Decrease in carbon monoxide levels
  • Reduced risk of heart attack

Within a year, the function of the blood vessels returns to normal.

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