Smoking and its relation to cardiovascular diseases

• Main Authors: Elmo Manuel Fernández González, Dariel Adrian Figueroa Oliva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana 2018-03-01
• Series: Revista Habanera de Ciencias Médicas
• Online Access: http://www.revhabanera.sld.cu/index.php/rhab/article/view/2044

<p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"><strong>Introduction: </strong> Smoking is a serious global health problem due to the damages associated with its consumption. It is the cause that most influences morbidity and mortality due to chronic non-communicable diseases. It is related to the development of cardiovascular diseases.<br /> <strong>Objective:</strong> To describe the affectations of the cardiovascular system caused by smoking.<br /> <strong>Material and Methods:</strong> A bibliographic review was made using national and international literature, in both electronic and printed formats. Authors' criteria and research results available from SciELO, Medline, PubMED and Google databases were expressed. A total of 26 bibliographical references were used. Selection criteria established a period of 5 years to date, also using previous literature of great value for this research.<br /> <strong>Development:</strong> Nicotine is the main component of tobacco that exerts an addictive power. Smoking has a synergistic effect on other health related risk factors, thus increasing the total cardiovascular risk. The probability of developing cardiovascular affectations in smokers is directly related to the number of cigarettes consumed daily and the time of evolution.<br /> <strong>Conclusions:</strong> Smoking constitutes a bad social behavior and a dangerous risk factor, representing the main cause of mortality and cardiovascular morbidity that can be prevented in the world.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"> <strong>Keywords:</strong> smoking, nicotine, risk factor, cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis, consumption.</span></p>