No Smoking Day Awareness: For a long time it was believed that smoking had a bad effect on the lungs, but recent medical research has presented a scary picture. According to experts, every puff of cigarette is piercing the hearts of women more than men. On No Smoking Day, cardiologists have warned that women are more sensitive to tobacco than men, due to which their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) increases by 25%.
Medical experts say that the difference in the physical structure of women and men is the main reason for this increased risk. Women’s blood vessels are smaller and more fragile than men’s. Nicotine and carbon monoxide present in tobacco cause these arteries to shrink rapidly, which increases blood pressure and increases the pressure on the heart.
The estrogen hormone in women’s bodies naturally protects their hearts. Smoking destroys this protective shield. Smoking cigarettes reduces the level of estrogen in the body, which can lead to premature menopause in women. Lack of estrogen directly accelerates the process of plaque accumulation in the arteries which later causes heart attack.
Doctors have pointed out a special danger. In women who take birth control pills and also smoke, the risk of blood clots and stroke increases many times more than normal. This combination is no less than a time bomb for the cardiovascular system of women.
Not only smoking cigarettes yourself but also being in contact with the smoke of others is equally dangerous for women. Women exposed to second-hand smoke at home or at work have also been shown to have increased rates of heart disease.
Experts say it is never too late to quit smoking. The risk of heart attack starts reducing within just 24 hours of quitting cigarettes. Within a year, the increased risk of heart disease is halved.
Increasing stress and changing lifestyle in the digital age is pushing women towards smoking but this figure of 25% higher risk should be a wake-up call for any woman.
