Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
This is not a scoop: tobacco is bad for your health, especially for heart health. But not only on the functioning of the heart, but on the organ as well. Indeed, a Danish study presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology, held at the end of August in Barcelona, Spain, shows that tobacco “also directly harms the heart itself”.
It damages blood vessels, causes cardiovascular disease and strokes: tobacco is harmful to the health of the heart and arteries, it has been proven.
Consequences on the heart
In addition to this well-known negative aspect of tobacco, it would seem that cigarettes are harmful to the organ itself. Indeed, it is a Danish study that suggests this. A team of researchers gathered data from 3,874 volunteers, aged 20 to 99, without heart disease. They had to answer a questionnaire about their smoking history to estimate their number of “pack-years”, that is to say the total amount of cigarettes smoked during a lifetime. As a reminder, a pack-year corresponds to 20 cigarettes smoked every day of the year.
A bigger, weaker, heavier organ
In total, nearly one in five participants was a regular current smoker, just over 40% had never smoked and the same proportion were former smokers. Various variable elements were also taken into account in the volunteers, such as their age, their sex, their BMI and their various pathologies (hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, etc.) as well as their lung function. All participants also underwent echocardiography. Result: current smokers have a larger, weaker and heavier heart than others.
However, some damage is reversible
According to Dr. Eva Holt, lead author of the study, “current smoking and accumulation of pack-years were associated with deterioration in the structure and function of the left heart chamber, the most important part of the heart. Over a period of 10 years, [les cœurs des fumeurs] were less able to pump blood than those who had never smoked and those who had quit during that time. However, “some of this damage is reversible by giving up smoking,” says the specialist. A powerful argument to convince the most reluctant to completely give up their cigarettes.
Consult a GP online
Tobacco even seeps into homes
Tobacco really invites itself everywhere, even in furniture and certain surfaces, at home. And it can last for years! This is called tertiary cigarette smoke, the primary being that absorbed by the smoker and the secondary that emitted by the latter, which creates passive smoking. A recent American study shows that this tertiary smoke, made up of microparticles suspended in the air, settles on furniture, fabrics, etc.
It can remain in interiors for several years and have harmful consequences on health, by mixing with other chemical elements or by being breathed in an enclosed space. To avoid these situations, after quitting smoking, it is therefore recommended to change certain elements (curtains, carpets, etc.) to eliminate this source of indoor air pollution.