Smokers' Arteries Shown to Age Twice as Fast!

As you ponder the above statement, consider lighting one up... for the last time.

Yes, it's broken record to hear someone tell you that smoking is bad for the heart and other parts of the body, but researchers now have one good reason why -- because continual smoking causes progressive stiffening of the arteries.

According to a new Japanese study, it appears as though smokers' arteries stiffen with age at about double the speed of those of nonsmokers.

Stiffer arteries are prone to blockages that can cause heart attacks, strokes and other problems.

We're not even talking about the bad breath, yellow teeth, and the horrible smell that goes with being a smoker; we're talking about stuff that impacts your livingness.

While it's no secret that arteries become more stiff in time as one ages, this study shows that smoking accelerates the process. However it also adds clarity in understanding the precise role smoking plays as a cause of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers looked at the velocity that blood pumped from the heart to the arm and into the ankle in their analysis.  Blood moves slower through stiff arteries, so a bigger time difference means stiffer blood vessels.

Looking at more than 2,000 Japanese adults, the researchers found that the annual change in that velocity was greater in smokers than nonsmokers over the five to six years of the study.

Smokers' large- and medium-sized arteries stiffened at twice the rate of nonsmokers'. That's no big surprise, as there's definitely a dose-response relationship. Which means: the more smoking, the more arterial stiffening there is per day.

The finding gives doctors one more argument to use in their continuing effort to get smokers to quit.

Good luck.

Smokers often tell their doctors that they've been smoking for years without a problem, which is problematic for doctors to argue against.  However, this study now shows that the damage may at first be slow, but cumulative and will accelerate with time.  The changes won't be noticable in 6 months.  But in six years, you've essentially altered your arteries.

So, the fact that you've gotten away with it so far doesn't mean you'll get away with it forever.

However, it appears that there is possibility that the damage will heal if you give up smoking.  We know that it does reverse with restricted airways/damaged lung tissue that isn't too far gone.

So once again, the broken record plays. 

When will you listen?  When will that one last cigarette occur?   Will it be your last?  Or will it be the one that seals your fate?