QUIT SMOKING,

SAVE YOUR HEART:

A GUIDE TO PREVENTING
HEART ATTACKS
INTRODUCTION

• Facts about smoking and heart disease

• One out of every 5 smoking-related deaths is caused
by heart disease.
• Women older than 35 who smoke and take birth
control pills are at much greater risk for heart disease
or stroke.
• Cigarette smokers are 2 to 4 times more likely to get
heart disease than nonsmokers.
• Cigarette smoking doubles a person's risk for stroke.
Understanding Heart Attacks

• What is a heart attack?

• A heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction,
happens when a part of the heart muscle doesn’t get
enough blood.
• The more time that passes without treatment to restore
blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart muscle.
Risk factors

• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Overweight or obesity
Risk-Enhancing Factors

• Family history of early atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (men less than 55 years old,
women less than 65 years old)
• High cholesterol (LDL-C 160-189 mg/dL; non-HDL-C 190-219 mg/dL)
• Metabolic syndrome
• Chronic kidney disease
• Chronic inflammatory conditions (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, HIV/AIDS)
• History of preeclampsia or early menopause
• High-risk ethnicity (e.g., South Asian ancestry)
• Higher than normal triglycerides (175 mg/dL or higher), ankle-brachial index (ABI) and other
lab tests
What are the symptoms of heart attack?

• Chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the

center or left side of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or
that goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like
uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.
• Feeling weak, light-headed, or faint. You may also break out into a cold
sweat.
• Pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, or back.
• Pain or discomfort in one or both arms or shoulders.
• Shortness of breath. This often comes along with chest discomfort, but
shortness of breath also can happen before chest discomfort.
Effects of Smoking on the Heart

• Chemicals in cigarette smoke cause the cells that line blood vessels to become swollen
and inflamed. This can narrow the blood vessels and can lead to many cardiovascular
conditions. Nicotine, one of the chemicals in cigarettes and e-cigarettes, causes your
heart to beat faster and blood pressure to rise. Smoking makes clots more likely to form.
It can also promote the buildup of plaque in arteries.
• Exposure to other people’s smoke also increases the risk of heart disease even for
nonsmokers.
Benefits of Quitting Smoking

• Improves health status and enhances quality of life.

• Reduces the risk of premature death and can add as much as 10 years to life
expectancy.
• Reduces the risk for many adverse health effects, including poor
reproductive health outcomes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), and cancer.
• Benefits people already diagnosed with coronary heart disease or COPD.
• Benefits the health of pregnant women and their fetuses and babies.
• Reduces the financial burden that smoking places on people who smoke,
healthcare systems, and society.
Cardiovascular Health Benefits of
Quitting Smoking
• Reduces the risk of disease and death from cardiovascular disease.

• Reduces markers of inflammation and hypercoagulability.

• Leads to rapid improvement in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels.

• Reduces the development of subclinical atherosclerosis and slows its progression over time.

• Reduces the risk of coronary heart disease with risk falling sharply 1-2 years after cessation
and then declining more slowly over the longer term.
• Reduces the risk of disease and death from stroke with risk approaching that of never
smokers after cessation.
• Reduces the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm, with risk reduction increasing with time since
cessation.
• May reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation, sudden cardiac death, heart failure, venous
thromboembolism, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
Strategies for Quitting Smoking

• Talk with a health care provider about ways to quit smoking.

Changing behaviors and taking a medication are the two main
methods of quitting smoking. Using both methods together
increases your chances of successfully quitting.
• Think about what happened with your previous quit attempts. What
worked? What did not work? What contributed to relapse? Is there
anything you have learned that you can do differently this time to be
more successful?
• Tell your family, friends, and coworkers about the plan to quit and
ask for their support.
• Prepare to deal with nicotine withdrawal symptoms, such as cravings
for a cigarette. Other symptoms are more general and often not
recognized as related to nicotine withdrawal. These include anxiety,
difficulty sleeping, irritability, difficulty concentrating, restlessness,
frustration or anger, and depression. These symptoms are reduced
and more tolerable if you use a stop-smoking medication. These
include over-the-counter medications, like nicotine patches, gum, or
lozenges, or prescription medications like varenicline or bupropion.
• Withdrawal symptoms usually become manageable within a few weeks of
stopping smoking completely. Symptoms generally peak in the first three
days and decrease over the next three to four weeks, so keep in mind that
it will get easier. Symptoms vary in intensity but are generally stronger in
heavier smokers.
• Prepare to deal with things that trigger smoking. Examples include having
other smokers in the household or workplace, stressful situations, and
drinking alcohol. If you are in the habit of smoking during the work day, it
might be easier to quit during a vacation from work. If you live with
someone else who smokes, consider asking that person not to smoke in
the house or car to help you succeed in becoming smoke-free.
• Anticipate occasional cravings for cigarettes; these can be intense and may occur
periodically over a longer timeframe than withdrawal symptoms. Cravings may be
brought on by situations associated with smoking, by stress, or by drinking alcohol.
These cravings are a common reason people relapse after quitting. It is important to
remember that a craving will typically go away in a few minutes if you distract
yourself by doing something else for a few minutes.
• Plan an exercise program and a healthy diet to minimize weight gain. Weight gain
may occur because people tend to eat more after quitting. Typically, people gain two
to five pounds in the first two weeks, followed by an additional four to seven pounds
over the next four to five months. The average total weight gain is 8 to 10 pounds.
While this can be frustrating, it can help to keep in mind that the benefits of quitting
smoking are much greater than the risks associated with gaining weight.
Healthy Habits for Heart Health

• Choose healthy meals and snacks to help prevent heart disease and its complications.
Be sure to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods.
• Eating lots of foods high in saturated fat and trans fat may contribute to heart
disease.
• Eating foods high in fiber and low in saturated fats, trans fat, and cholesterol can help
prevent high cholesterol.
• Limiting salt (sodium) in your diet can also lower your blood pressure.
• Limiting sugar in your diet can lower your blood sugar level to prevent or help control
diabetes.

• Do not drink too much alcohol, which can raise your blood pressure. Men should
have no more than 2 drinks per day, and women no more than 1 drink per day.
• Keep a healthy weight
• Physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower
your blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugar levels. For
adults, the Surgeon General recommends 2 hours and 30 minutes of
moderate-intensity exercise, like brisk walking or bicycling, every
week. Children and adolescents should get 1 hour of physical activity
every day.
• DON’T SMOKE.
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