Smoking and Your Heart

Everyone knows that quitting can be tough, but it's well worth it for your heart, your health, and your overall well-being.

By Gina Roberts-Grey

Medically reviewed by Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, MD

Smoking harms every organ in your body. And though kicking a nicotine habit is hard, the health benefits of doing so far outweigh the struggle to be smoke-free. The principal benefit? The renewal of good health, says William A. Tansey, III, MD, FACC, board-certified cardiologist and founding member of the NY/NJ/CT/Long Island Heritage Affiliate of the American Heart Association. "Inhaled tobacco smoke — either as a smoker or through 'secondhand smoke' — compromises your immunity and accounts for multiple problems, including frequent respiratory infections, cancer of the lungs, stomach, and bladder, and perhaps most importantly, an increased incidence of heart disease and stroke," he says.

What happens to your body when you inhale? Dr. Tansey explains that each breath of tobacco smoke, which may contain up to 4,000 toxic hydrocarbons, temporarily paralyze the cilia, small fibers in your airway that ordinarily capture inhaled disease-causing particles and dispose of them. "Paralyzing this important human defense mechanism is like pulling the bark from a tree and allowing bugs free access," he says. As the cilia return to action, each subsequent 'punch' of tobacco smoke handicaps them again. "That can lead to heart and respiratory disease," Tansey adds.

The Heart-Healthy Benefits of Quitting

Quitting smoking has both short- and long-term health benefits. "Kicking the nicotine habit restores the full function and vitality of your body's cilia," says Tansey. Over time, you can also significantly reduce your risk for diseases caused by smoking and slow the progression of conditions such as atherosclerosis, an inflammatory process in blood vessel walls that, Tansey says, accounts for many blockages responsible for heart attacks and strokes. "While reversal [of atherosclerosis] has not been convincingly demonstrated, it is clear that the absence of nicotine is associated with a slower progression of this condition," he says.

The first health benefits of quitting can occur as soon as 20 minutes after that last puff, according to Tom Houston, MD, director of the OhioHealth Nicotine Dependence Program at the McConnell Heart Health Center in Columbus, Ohio. "Your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal," he explains, "and 24 smoke-free hours are all you need to eliminate carbon monoxide from the body and for your lungs to start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris."

Here's a quick timeline of the healthy changes that occur over the next year in the body of someone who stops smoking:

• 48 hours – There is no nicotine left in the body. Your ability to taste and smell is greatly improved.
• 72 hours – Breathing becomes easier. Your bronchial tubes begin to relax and your energy levels increase.
• 2 - 12 weeks – Your circulation improves.
• 3 - 9 months – Coughing, wheezing, and breathing problems get better as your lung function is increased by up to 10%.
• 1 year – Your risk of a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.

And yes, those benefits take place even in veteran smokers that have been lighting up for 30 years or more. "Quitting smoking or exposure to inhaled tobacco has huge heart health benefits, no matter how long one has smoked," says Dr. Tansey.

Withdrawing From a Nicotine Habit

If you've smoked regularly for a few weeks or longer and suddenly stop — or even greatly reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke — you'll probably have withdrawal symptoms. Your first few smoke-free days will most likely be the toughest. According to the American Cancer Society different factors, such as how long you've smoked and the type of cigarettes you've used, can affect how long it takes your body to remove nicotine and its by-products.

In general, a regular smoker will have nicotine or its by-products in the body for about 3 to 4 days after stopping. The most common symptoms of withdrawal symptoms you're likely to experience can include:

• Dizziness (which may only last 1-2 days after quitting)
• Depression and/or anxiety
• Feelings of frustration, impatience, and anger
• Irritability, restlessness, and difficulty concentrating
• Sleeping problems, including trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, and bad dreams or nightmares
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Increased appetite

Symptoms usually appear within a few hours of the last cigarette and tend to peak 2 to 3 days later. Withdrawal symptoms can last from a few days to up to several weeks.

Time-Tested Advice

Tansey concedes that quitting smoking is tough, but there are things you can do to increase your changes of success. Effective techniques he's suggested to his patients include:

• Write it down. Keep a journal or compose a personal letter of commitment to yourself. Then keep it available to reread when you need a reminder about why not smoking is important to you.
• Set your own parameters. Prescribe a limited number of cigarettes that you must smoke, such as two after each meal, for example. Smoke no more and no less! After succeeding at this level for a few months, reduce the amount. Ultimately, the decision to stop completely will not be as difficult.
• Try nicotine replacement therapy. Talk to your doctor about nicotine gum, patches, and other aids that may help reduce your cravings and make it easier to quit for good.
• Involve others. Hold yourself accountable to friends or family members. It's much harder to disappoint a loved one than it is to disappoint yourself. Also consider joining a support group — in-person meetings may take place in a convenient location, but there are also online support groups that give you the opportunity to share and vent whenever you have the time.
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