ONTARIO

Give the gift of health during Heart Month: Quit smoking

Public Health

February is Heart Month with valentines and presents for loved ones. One thing you might think about doing for someone you care about is quitting smoking.

Why quit smoking? We know that smoking causes lung cancer. But, did you know that smoking also affects your heart and blood vessels and this can lead to heart attacks and strokes?

How does this happen? There are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke. Two of those chemicals – nicotine and carbon monoxide – are especially hard on your heart.

Nicotine has a number of effects on the heart. It increases your heart rate and narrows the blood vessels which increases your blood pressure. Your heart has to work harder in order to get blood and oxygen to the rest of your body. Nicotine also makes the walls of the blood vessels “stickier”. This makes blood cells and fat cells stick together to block the flow of blood to the heart and could cause a heart attack.

Carbon monoxide replaces oxygen in the blood and this can make the heart work harder as it tries to get enough oxygen to your body.

Every year, smoking kills about 12,000 people in Ontario. Women who smoke and use birth control pills increase their risk of heart attacks and strokes compared to women who don’t smoke.

What can you do? Quitting smoking does have benefits to your health. After you quit, your risk of heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and other lung diseases decreases over a number of years. You will have fewer colds and throat infections. Your sense of taste and smell will improve. You will finally be able to enjoy the food you’ve been eating. When you are no longer buying cigarettes, you will have more money to spend.

For information and support to quit smoking, call the Toronto Public Health Smokefree Helpline at 392-0123.