The chemicals in tobacco smoke harm your heart and blood vessels in many ways. For example, they:
\nSmoking is a major risk factor for ischemic heart disease, a condition in which plaque builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply your heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood.
\nWhen plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis.
\nPlaque narrows the arteries and reduces blood flow to your heart muscle. The buildup of plaque also makes it more likely that blood clots will form in your arteries. Blood clots can partially or completely block blood flow.
\nOver time, smoking contributes to atherosclerosis and increases your risk of having and dying from heart disease, heart failure, or a heart attack.
\nCompared with nonsmokers, people who smoke are more likely to have heart disease and suffer from a heart attack. The risk of having or dying from a heart attack is even higher among people who smoke and already have heart disease.
\nFor some people, such as women who use birth control pills and people who have diabetes, smoking poses an even greater risk to the heart and blood vessels.
\nSmoking is a major risk factor for heart disease. When combined with other risk factors\u2014such as unhealthy blood cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and overweight or obesity\u2014smoking further raises the risk of heart disease.
\nPeripheral artery disease (P.A.D.) is a disease in which plaque builds up in the arteries that carry blood to your head, organs, and limbs. Smoking is a major risk factor for P.A.D.
\nP.A.D. usually affects the arteries that carry blood to your legs. Blocked blood flow in the leg arteries can cause cramping, pain, weakness, and numbness in your hips, thighs, and calf muscles.
\nBlocked blood flow also can raise your risk of getting an infection in the affected limb. Your body might have a hard time fighting the infection.
\nIf severe enough, blocked blood flow can cause gangrene (tissue death). In very serious cases, this can lead to leg amputation.
\nIf you have P.A.D., your risk of heart disease and heart attack is higher than the risk for people who don\u2019t have P.A.D.
\nSmoking even one or two cigarettes a day can interfere with P.A.D. treatments. People who smoke and people who have diabetes are at highest risk for P.A.D. complications, including gangrene in the leg from decreased blood flow.
\nSecondhand smoke is the smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Secondhand smoke also refers to smoke that\u2019s breathed out by a person who is smoking.
\nSecondhand smoke contains many of the same harmful chemicals that people inhale when they smoke. It can damage the heart and blood vessels of people who don\u2019t smoke in the same way that active smoking harms people who do smoke. Secondhand smoke greatly increases adults\u2019 risk of heart attack and death.
\nSecondhand smoke also raises the risk of future coronary heart disease in children and teens because it:
\nThe risks of secondhand smoke are especially high for premature babies who have respiratory distress syndrome and children who have conditions such as asthma.
\nResearchers know less about how cigar and pipe smoke affects the heart and blood vessels than they do about cigarette smoke.
\nHowever, the smoke from cigars and pipes contains the same harmful chemicals as the smoke from cigarettes. Also, studies have shown that people who smoke cigars are at increased risk of heart disease.
\n