A puff before heading off to the restroom, next one with his morning tea.  A cigarette while he is sitting in his car trying to make his way through the traffic. One after every meal so as he can carry on with the day. His identity got reduced to being a smoker. Once an athlete in his school days, Mahesh was now even finding it hard to climb the stairs of his own house. That is when Mahesh decided to visit his doctor and get himself checked. He went through many-body checkups, blood tests, ECG in the coming days. His doctor confirmed he was suffering from Coronary Heart Disease (CHD).  He is at risk of heart attacks and arrhythmias. He needs constant monitoring and has to change his lifestyle and habits. The first question the doctor asked did he smoke and if he does, he needs to QUIT! 

Mahesh decided it was time to bid adieu to the cigarette. It was time to say Hi to a healthy him. The initial few days were difficult, but the results were rewarding. He felt his body more energetic. He could breathe better, taste better, felt energetic. He was more involved with his family as his cigarette breaks were no longer hampering his family time. He started healing; his heart was getting stronger day by day. Now a nonsmoker Mahesh feels why at the first place he started smoking? 

Smoking Breaks Your Heart 

Many factors can lead to heart disease; however, smoking is the most common among all of them. Globally 1 out of 10 deaths occurring due to heart disease is attributed to smoking which is nearly 1.7 million deaths per year. Heart disease is considered to be a global killer worldwide, responsible for nearly 17.9 million deaths per year. A cigarette is loaded with chemicals that a person inhales with the smoke; these chemicals accumulate in the lung and other parts of the body leading to numerous diseases. Nearly 70 chemicals found in cigarette smoke are carcinogenic. Nicotine, the addictive drug that produces the effect people are looking for, and one of the harshest chemicals in tobacco smoke is the main culprit that affects the heart. 

Nicotine causes inflammation and damage to the inner lining of the blood vessels, which leads to their narrowing and increases the risk of Atherosclerosis, which in turn can cause many other serious ailments.  

Below are just a few diseases your heart can suffer due to smoking 

Atherosclerosis

Smoking damages the inner lining of vessels causing the arteries to become narrow and lose their elasticity due to the accumulation of plaque in it. 

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

The chemical in smoke not only hardens the vessels but also alters the blood consistency, causing clot formation.  The blood supply to the heart decreases over time, causing CHD. The clot can cause blockage to the blood supply of heart, leading to heart attack, even sudden death. Stroke 

Stroke is defined as a loss of brain function due to a lack of blood supply to the brain. Stroke can lead to permanent brain damage, and smoking is a major risk factor for strokes. 

Peripheral Artery Disease

PAD is defined as a lack of blood supply to peripheral parts of the body like the limbs. In this case, the blood insufficiency to the body parts can increase the risk of gangrene and amputations. As smoking can cause blood vessels to narrow, the risk of PAD increases substantially. 

DID YOU KNOW?

  • There are even radioactive substances in the tobacco leaves that come from the fertilizers that are used to grow the plant
  • Smoking cigars are as harmful as smoking cigarettes
  • Smokers are twice more likely at the risk of having a heart attack than nonsmokers
  • Nearly 70 types of cancer causing compounds are found in cigarette
  • Second-hand smoke causes more than 1.2 million premature deaths per year
  • Smoking leads to an increase in blood pressure, heart rate and affects heart function

Quit Smoking Today For A Healthy Tomorrow 

The moment a person quit smoking the body starts healing from the effects of smoking. By every passing minute, the body rejuvenates. Below is a timeline of every passing minute how the body heals once you quit smoking. 

20 minutes

Your heart starts feeling better; heart rate starts dropping due to less workload on it, and it beats on a much normal pace than before. Blood pressure reduces, and the temperature falls to normal. 

8- 12 hours 

Your body celebrates as the nicotine in your body reduces, and the amount of nicotine has fallen thus the body has more oxygen for all the body parts 

24 hours

It is time to rejoice as your risk of heart attack has reduced, and your body is at the road of recovery 

Three months

Now three months down the line you can breathe better as lung functions are restoring and the levels of chemical depositions are clearing up 

One year

Your risk of Coronary heart disease is just half as compared to the smokers 

Five years

 The risk of stroke and brain damage has reduced 

Ten years

The risk of dying from lung cancer or bladder cancer is reduced to half as compared to smokers 

Monitor your Progress

The success story of how somebody stopped smoking is always appreciated, but the damage done needs to be taken care of. Although, the damage your heart endures during the time you smoke needs to be monitored in order to keep track of your well being.  

With the advancement in healthcare technology now keeping a check on your heart health is much easier. SanketLife from Agatsa is such innovation that can monitor your overall heart health in no time and give you accurate information that can be life saving.  

ECG gives you a detailed idea of how your heart is working and can detect heart ailments like arrhythmias and events such as heart attack and SanketLife can help in just that. It will take a quick medical grade ECG anytime anywhere and share the reports to the doctor instantly through your smart phone.  SanketLife can be used for fitness tracking and monitoring by its Heart rate variability (HRV) check factor. Not just this cigarette smoking also causes your stress levels to shoot up. Now you can gauge your stress level and improve your efficiency. It’s never too late to take care of your health and even better to take steps now. SanketLife will help you in journey of becoming a better you, a healthy you.