Smoking causes strokes and heart attacks

Stopping smoking isn’t easy but your local NHS can help you to quit cigarettes for good.

Strokes

A stroke is a brain attack. A stroke happens when the arteries that supply blood to the brain become blocked or damaged.

Stroke is the main cause of disability in the UK and is the third most common cause of death (after cancer and coronary heart disease).

Smoking doubles your risk of having a stroke because it causes high blood pressure, the arteries to fur up and the blood to become thicker.

We’re all at some risk of having a stroke. But strokes can be prevented through small and long-term changes to your lifestyle. Stopping smoking can cut the risk of a stroke in half – no matter how old you are or how long you have smoked.

A stroke is a medical emergency: the faster treatment is given, the better the chance of recovery. If you suspect a stroke act FAST, call 999.

For further information about strokes visit Stroke Association

Heart Disease

In coronary heart disease, the arteries that supply blood to the heart become blocked. This is usually caused by fatty deposits, carried in the blood, sticking to the walls of the arteries, causing them to become narrower. This can lead to a heart attack.

Smoking massively increases your risk of developing heart disease because it causes high blood pressure, the arteries to fur up and the blood to be become thicker. Heart disease causes the deaths of one in five men in the UK and one in six women. Smoking is thought to be responsible for one in five of each of those deaths.

If you stop smoking, after just a year your chance of developing heart disease will be half that of someone who smokes.

For further information about heart disease visit British Heart Foundation

There is help available

If you smoke, stopping will bring enormous benefits to your health and wellbeing. You’ll dramatically reduce your risk of developing a vascular disease such as heart disease or stroke, within a few months. You’re likely to feel more confident socially too.

You don’t have to quit smoking by yourself. In fact, you’re four times more likely to succeed if you have support.

NHS Stop Smoking Services provide free and practical support to help you stub out cigarettes forever. They offer free or subsidised treatment with nicotine products and support through Specialist Advisors, Pharmacists and GP services, telephone support and group support.