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Connie, the following are conclusions from Women and Smoking, A Report of the Surgeon General 2001. - Smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease among women. Risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked and the duration of smoking.
- Women who smoke have an increase risk for ischemic stroke (blood clot in one of the arteries supplying the brain) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding in the area surrounding the brain).
- Women who smoke have an increased risk for peripheral vascular atherosclerosis.
- Smoking cessation reduces the excess risk of coronary heart disease, no matter at what age women stop smoking. The risk is substantially reduced within 1 or 2 years after they stop smoking.
- The increased risk for stroke associated with smoking begins to reverse after women stop smoking. About 10 to 15 years after stopping, the risk for stroke approaches that of a women who never smoked.
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_forwomen/factsheet_consequences.htm Below are the heart and stroke risk conclusions from a more recent 2004 report entitled "The Health Consequences of Smoking - A Report of the Surgeon General." Notice the minor stroke risk change to the newer 5 to 15 year figure used by Joel. It may be a women vs. all smokers factor but both reports clearly evidences the fact that circulatory clogging risks decline over time. John Smoking Among Adults: Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke - Coronary heart disease and stroke—the primary types of cardiovascular disease caused by smoking—are the first and third leading causes of death in the United States. More than 61 million Americans suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and other conditions. More than 2,600 Americans die every day because of cardiovascular diseases, about 1 death every 33 seconds. (p. 363)
- Toxins in the blood from smoking cigarettes contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a progressive hardening of the arteries caused by the deposit of fatty plaques and the scarring and thickening of the artery wall. Inflammation of the artery wall and the development of blood clots can obstruct blood flow and cause heart attacks or strokes. (p. 364-365)
- Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Coronary heart disease results from atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. (p. 384, 407)
- In 2003, an estimated 1.1 million Americans had a new or recurrent coronary attack. (p. 384)
- Cigarette smoking has been associated with sudden cardiac death of all types in both men and women. (p. 387)
- Smoking-related coronary heart disease may contribute to congestive heart failure. An estimated 4.6 million Americans have congestive heart failure and 43,000 die from it every year. (p. 387)
- Smoking low-tar or low-nicotine cigarettes rather than regular cigarettes appears to have little effect on reducing the risk for coronary heart disease. (p. 386, 407)
- Strokes are the third leading cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of strokes. (p. 393)
- The U.S. incidence of stroke is estimated at 600,000 cases per year, and the one-year fatality rate is about 30%. (p. 393)
- The risk of stroke decreases steadily after smoking cessation. Former smokers have the same stroke risk as nonsmokers after 5 to 15 years. (p. 394)
- Smoking causes abdominal aortic aneurysm. (p. 397)
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/Factsheets/3.htm |
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