Each year, cigarette smoking contributed to the death of about 125,000 people. Within seconds of taking a puff, a person's blood pressure can increase 10-20 points. Smoking raises the level of HDL, the good cholesterol. Smoking thickens the blood by increasing the production of red blood cells. This promotes clotting and can close off a narrowed section of an important blood vessel.
Nicotine causes the arteries to dialate, increasing blood supply to the heart.
Cigarettes contain no chemicals. Burning tobacco smoke produces carbon dioxide. Cigarette smoking releases powerful body chemicals that can cause cardiac rhythm abnormalities. There are more than 54 million smokers today. Unfortunately, more than 3 million of the are teenagers.