subject: Does Smoking Clog Arteries? [print this page] Does Smoking Clog Arteries? Does Smoking Clog Arteries?
Does smoking clog arteries? If you are not a smoker, this probably wouldn't bother you at all. Then again, it should do you a lot of good to know what clogs arteries and if smoking does have a role to play here.
First of all, why the big deal about clogged arteries? It means that the supply of oxygen in the brain, the legs, or heart is cut off, and oxygen as you must know is very vital for the cells in these parts of the body to function. Lack of oxygen in the brain, legs, and heart can cause brain death, peripheral arterial disease, and heart attack, respectively, and these can be fatal. In some cases when they are not, the quality of life is significantly reduced. That is why arteries that are clogged should not be taken lightly. They are very serious medical conditions that require immediate medical attention.
Now you may ask, what are the predisposing factors to clogging of arteries? It develops because there is damage to the epithelium (the epithelium is what lines the interior of the arterial walls), in the first place. If normally, blood with all its substances is able to pass through a healthy arterial wall without any problem, the damage now makes it difficult for the substances, which by the way are fats, calcium, and cholesterol, to get through the walls. So these substances collect themselves in the walls, forming plaque overtime. The plaque hardens, eventually clogging the arterial walls.
Does smoking clog arteries? Actually, smoking is one of the factors that damage the interior walls of the arteries. Too much smoking weakens the epithelium, making it more vulnerable to wear and tear, so yes, you can say that there indeed exists a link between smoking and clogged arteries.
Preventive measures may have come too late when your arteries are already clogged. Usually, if death has not come earlier, the patient may need to undergo angioplasty or heart bypass or some other surgical procedure to unclog the affected artery. These procedures are not only expensive, they are very risky, too. If you don't want to resort to either of these, then by all means, undergo diagnostic examinations to determine the condition of your arteries. Narrowed arterial walls indicate that you are in danger of developing clogged arteries sooner or later, in which case you must do the following:
* Cease from smoking.
* Regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels
* Lower down your blood cholesterol levels. An ideal score should be less than 100 mg/dL or less than 70 mg/dL if you are identified as high risk.
* Avoid eating foods that contain a lot of fat and cholesterol. These are substances that increase plaque formation. Avoid eating sweets as well. Treat junk foods as exactly that - junk.
* Eat more vegetables, fruits, and fiber-rich foods.
* Exercise. Walk, jog, run - it really does not matter what you do for as long as you are doing some kind of activity that keeps your blood circulating
So now, it is clear what the answer to the question does smoking clog arteries is.
