Smoking and Lung cancer and heart disease 6.1

Smoking is perhaps the most potent factor for CHD in particular, cigarette smoke has approx 1,000 different chemicals and 60 are identified as being toxic, these toxins float within the blood and accelerate the hardening of the arteries, putting people at a greater risk of a heart attack and ultimately death - heart failure. cigarettes also contain a substance called nicotine that stimulates the heart to produce adrenaline, this causes the heart rate and blood pressure to increase and the heart works harder.
Smoking decreases the oxygen supply the heart and increases carbon dioxide and increases the possibility of a blood clot, increasing the blood pressure and heart rate as well as damage to the cells that line up on the coronary arteries as well as other blood vessels, CO2 is a poisonous gas that irreversibility combines with the haemoglobin in your red blood cells leaving you breathless.
CHD is a disease of the coronary arteries which branch from the aorta to supply the heart muscle, if atherosclerosis of these vessels occur ,then the heart has to work harder and blood pressure rises, this makes it difficult for the heart to receive extra nutrients and oxygen it requires, smoking increases the concentration of blood cholesterol which is a risk factor, risks increases with age and more men than women are at risk.
There is a clear link between smoking and coronary heart disease, however smoking remains a wide spread habit many smokers choose to ignore the link between smoking and coronary heart disease.

Tar is a sticky brown substance made up of many chemicals many of which are carcinogen (cancer producing) because tar is sticky it tends to accumulate and clog it stops the cilia from moving and allowing the build up of mucus, but persistent coughing can damage the delicate aveoli resulting in emphysema, this is a serious and chronic condition, tar builds up in the aveoli preventing gas exchange.
some of the irritants in smoke are dust and soot, other chemicals are ammonia and hydrogen cyanide, they all irritate the delicate mucus membranes lining the air passages this results in bronchitis (inflammation of the tube lining) this in turn can lead to pneumonia, some of the irritant chemicals are known to cause lung cancer. The heat from drawing on a cigarette burns away the cilia lining the trachea. Cancer is a disease and is formed by cell growth which can spread rapidly, lung cancer is when the uncontrolled cell begins in either lung, the usually healthy tissue is contaminated with the cancerous cells and they divide and form lumps known as tumours, the tumour grow and interfere with the function of the lungs providing oxygen into the blood stream. Lung cancer is the second most common cause of death in the UK.