Click to go mobile
Search articles from thousands of Examiners
Los Angeles Health Disease Prevention Examiner
Find out more about Peggy:

Frailty and disease have become an acceptable part of life, but both are avoidable when you exercise and eat right. Peggy Kraus, a clinical exercise physiologist, will tell you how.


 
Subscribe to Peggy's Email Alerts

Get alerts when Peggy submits a new article
Email Address


  Include other special offers from Examiner.com
Terms of Use

Peggy has been added to your favorite examiners
·

Cigarettes do more damage to a woman's heart than to a man's

January 8, 6:29 AM
4 comments
RSS

Many women smokers don't live
long enough to take this sort
of photo. Photo.

Health professionals are becoming more aware that heart disease is different in men and in women. Not only are the warning signs different, but the mechanisms by which cardiovascular disease develops and progresses give rise to separate guidelines and protocols.

Take smoking, for example.  Women smokers have a 2 to 4 times higher risk of developing heart disease than their male smoking counterparts. This difference may be related to the smaller stature of women; the impact of the almost 5,000 compounds in tobacco smoke, including carbon monoxide, and 11 proven human carcinogens is more concentrated in a smaller body.


...or this one. Photo.

Smoking also has a negative impact on blood cholesterol, increasing LDL cholesterol and decrease HDL cholesterol. These changes increase the likelihood of plaque build up leading to occlusion of the vessel and to plaque rupture that may lead to a heart attack or stroke.

In 2009, make the informed decision to quit smoking. Ask your doctor about medications that can help or call the toll-free telephone quitline 1-800-QUIT-NOW for more help.

 

 

 

Author: Peggy Kraus
Peggy Kraus is a National Examiner. You can see Peggy's articles on Peggy's Home Page.
Find out more about Peggy:
Frailty and disease have become an acceptable part of life, but both are avoidable when you exercise and eat right. Peggy Kraus, a clinical exercise physiologist, will tell you how.
Subscribe to Peggy's Email Alerts
Get alerts when Peggy submits a new article
Email Address


  Include other special offers from Examiner.com
Terms of Use

Peggy has been added to your favorite examiners

Comments

Name:
Comments:
characters left

Write for us

Now Recruiting in Los Angeles
We are now looking for Los Angeles writers to cover hundreds of topics, including: View all available topics »

If you don't eat meat or dairy, what's left? Check out these sites for great recipes