Harmful Smoking Effects on Arteries

Smoking causes 440,000 premature deaths per year, reports the American Heart Association. While most people associate the effects of smoking with lung disease, cigarettes have the potential to harm other parts of your body, including your arteries.

Cholesterol

• Smoking lowers the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which is the substance responsible for removing fatty deposits from your arteries and transporting them to your liver for destruction. The result is a buildup of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is the so-called "bad" cholesterol in your body.

Atherosclerosis

• As your arteries become clogged, their tissues begin to harden. This is a condition known as atherosclerosis. Hardening of the arteries is a contributing factor to coronary artery disease and increases your risk of a heart attack, reports the American Heart Association.

Heart Attack Risk

• Because of the effects of smoking on the arteries, people who smoke are twice as likely to die from a heart attack as those who do not smoke, warns the American Cancer Society. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of heart disease in people 50 years of age or younger, asserts the American Heart Association.

Statistics

• Smoking as little as six to seven cigarettes per day contributes to hardening of the arteries, explains the Canada Heart and Stroke Foundation. Even in people who are age 18 to 30, smoking just one cigarette increases the stiffness of your arteries by 25 percent, according to the Foundation.

Prevention

• Once you quit smoking, the harmful effects upon your arteries slowly reverse due to your body's power to heal itself. In as little as one year, your chance of developing coronary artery disease drops to half that of a smoker's. By 15 years after quitting, your chance of developing the disease is equal to that of nonsmokers in the same age and health category, explains the American Cancer Society.