Mon, 09 April 2012
Everyone knows that smoking is unhealthy, but even heart patients who smoke find it hard to quit.

“These patients often think the harmful effects will hit others, not them,” said Heribert Brueck, spokesman for the German Association of Cardiologists in Private Practice.

Many are unable to stop smoking even after being diagnosed with heart disease, he noted. So he said that he tried to make it clear to them how important kicking the habit was for their cardiac health and to give them tips on where and how to get help to wean themselves off nicotine.

According to a recent study by the German public health insurance company DAK, the smoking bans that have been gradually imposed in bars and restaurants across the country have cut the number of hospitalisations for heart attacks by 8 per cent. And in-patient treatments for angina pectoris, a precursor of a heart attack, have dropped by 13 per cent.

“The numbers confirm what we already knew from other countries, such as the US and Italy,” said Brueck. The smoking bans are needed, he said, because “not only active smokers suffer the harmful effects, but passive smokers do, too.” Many studies have confirmed this.

Inhaling the chemicals in cigarette smoke constricts blood vessels, impairs circulation and worsens the blood flow, Brueck said.

As a result, blood supply to the entire body, including the skin, is reduced, he said. At worst, the blood can clot, fatty substances can build up in the arteries and the arteries can even become blocked. If a coronary artery is affected, a heart attack occurs. — dpa

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