Читать книгу High Blood Pressure: Natural Self-help for Hypertension, including 60 recipes - Michelle Berriedale-Johnson - Страница 13

Smoking cigarettes greatly increases the risks associated with hypertension – people with high blood pressure, who also smoke, are two or three times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than hypertensive non-smokers, and life-insurance companies load their premiums accordingly.

Smoking cigarettes triggers hardening and furring up of the arteries (atherosclerosis), which is one of the most important causes of high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and stroke. It is also linked with at least 90 per cent of all cancers. The reason that cigarette smoke is so toxic is that it contains chemicals that:

damage the lining of arterial walls, triggering the build-up of clots and plaques

increase the stickiness of blood, making serious blood clots (thrombosis) more likely

displace oxygen from red blood cells in exchange for poisonous carbon monoxide – so that less oxygen is available for use by cells, including those in the heart muscle and artery walls

trigger spasm of arteries all over the body, which increases blood pressure and decreases blood flow to vital areas such as the brain and heart

produce harmful by-products of metabolism known as free radicals which damage tissues, increasing the risk of atherosclerosis and also of cancer.

For more information, see Chapter 21.