Does smoking raise or lower blood pressure?

Does smoking raise or lower blood pressure? The question is too banal at first glance, and, probably, few smokers will be able to answer accurately. Nevertheless, every person from toddler age knows that smoking harms the health of not only the smoker, but also the people around them who inhale tobacco smoke.

However, statistical data confirm that it is smokers who are at risk for such diseases as hypertension, atherosclerosis, heart attack, stroke, coronary disease and others. But what is the connection between blood pressure and smoking, how cigarettes affect pressure indicators, and why people who smoke a huge amount of tobacco products every day do not think that sooner or later they will have to pay with their own health.

What do doctors warn about?

It has long been no secret for medical professionals that addiction to tobacco definitely leads to problems with pressure. Simply put, nicotine has a uniquely negative effect on pressure indicators, namely, it leads to its growth. To prove this is elementary - it is enough to measure blood pressure before smoking a tobacco product, and then do it again, after. The evidence, as they say, will be "obvious" and it will be illogical to dispute this. Of course, a hardy person involved in sports, leading an active lifestyle, may object to this, they say, not everything is so deplorable and, for example, he does not have pressure surges after smoking cigarettes. But after all, this is observed only in a small number of cases, and basically a pressure jump after that occurs and a considerable one - the upper pressure indicator jumps by 30 divisions, and the lower minimum by 10. Agree, serious changes and, mind you, sharp.

True, after about half an hour, the pressure returns to normal levels and this is taken for granted by smokers and they refuse to believe that this will not be the case all the time. Also, according to a smoker, cigarettes, when you smoke them, can relieve headaches, increase efficiency and improve mood.

This has a scientific explanation. The fact is that the short-term effect of a certain improvement in well-being is associated with the release of endorphin - the hormone of happiness. In addition, nicotine affects the concentration of adrenaline in the blood - increases its level. In the same way, it affects cortisol and other hormones that are released in stressful situations. This is a kind of "reward system" - nicotine acts on the amount of dopamine and as a result of this there is a stable effect from cigarettes and an irresistible desire to "blow smoke" again and, thus, relieve tension.

Nicotine, which is included in all cigarettes, penetrates the human brain very quickly (it is estimated that this takes only 10 seconds.) In terms of speed, this can only be compared with the effect when using narcotic substances.

How does nicotine affect blood vessels

In the human body there are pressoreceptors that are responsible for relaxing the walls of blood vessels in case of stressful situations. These receptors are found in the walls of arteries, mainly large ones, that enter the circulatory system. When blood pressure rises, the pressure receptors stretch the walls of the vessels, the signal from them enters the nervous system, and then, by feedback, these signals are transmitted directly to the center of the nervous system and further to the vessels. It is this process that helps regulate pressure and maintain it within normal limits.

Among other things, nicotine and tobacco tar do not have the best effect on the state of the vessels - the arteries lose their elasticity and this contributes to the fact that the movement of blood through the vessels is difficult. This, in turn, leads to accelerated accumulation of cholesterol. Because of this, the walls of the capillaries thicken. All this leads to the fact that the lumen of the vessels narrows and the pressure rises - arterial hypertension occurs (sustained high blood pressure). Among other things, when the lumen is insufficient, the blood flow that carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissues becomes difficult. Arterial thrombosis occurs, and this is already fraught with strokes, because the brain mainly suffers from this. If blockage occurs in the heart arteries, a heart attack occurs, and if the vessels clog in the lower extremities, then this is a direct path to varicose veins and thrombophlebitis.

Risks and consequences

Long-term smokers have a high chance of getting a myocardial infarction, and this can happen in people without excess weight and other risk factors. The fact is that the heart with high blood pressure is forced to work for wear and tear. The heart muscle increases in volume, while it experiences constant increased stress, trying to saturate the tissues with oxygen. Due to such overloads, the muscle becomes enlarged in size over time, the ability to contract is significantly reduced. All these negative factors can lead to heart failure, and a person begins to feel angina attacks more often.

The habit of smoking in the morning on an empty stomach also does not lead to anything good. This addiction negatively affects the work of the adrenal glands - there is a sharp jump in adrenaline, and the heart rate quickens. The body always reacts to an increase in adrenaline in the blood, it is forced to turn on the mechanisms of inhibition of this process, and because of this, a person’s well-being noticeably worsens.

It has already been said above that cigarette smoking often causes a stroke..

It is no secret that a large percentage of smokers are addicted to nicotine, so people do not smoke sometimes when they want to relax, but do it all the time. Moreover, the number of tobacco products smoked is mostly huge - twenty, and more often forty cigarettes (two packs) per day.

Scientists have calculated that if you smoke at least 10 cigarettes a day, the risk of cerebral vasospasm increases many times. Thus, the blood supply is disrupted and eventually, smokers develop hypertension. Here is the answer to the question: "Does smoking increase or decrease blood pressure?".

Once again, I would like to warn smokers that addiction will inevitably lead to the development of arterial hypertension.

Unfortunately, not only this disease will be “earned” by a person, but in addition, he will receive many other serious diseases. In addition, the body of a “lover of blowing smoke” wears out much faster, immunity decreases, insomnia appears, and it is difficult for him to work at full strength. So is it really impossible to learn to live without cigarettes in order to feel healthy and full of energy and strength?