Effects of Smoking on Cholesterol Levels

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 45.3 million people in the United States smoke cigarettes. 1 out of every 5 deaths is caused by smoking. Almost all the organs in the body are affected by the 4000 chemicals in a cigarette. The heart is affected as this bad habit increases the levels of cholesterol beyond the desirable level. According to the American Heart Association, 20 percent of deaths caused by heart ailment trace back their origin to smoking.

What is cholesterol?
It is a waxy substance found in our entire body systems and is essential for the formation of hormones and cell membranes as our other body functions. High levels of cholesterol can block the arteries and one can suffer from heart disease and death. Naturally, smoking increases cholesterol and therefore is bad for the functioning of the heart.

Effects of Smoking on Cholesterol Levels
The cholesterol is an organic substance made up of carbon atoms. When it is well within the permitted levels, it helps in the formation of cell membranes and allows the flow of the contents inside the cells to outside and vice-versa. In this way, it has an important role to play in daily metabolism. Even, inside a cell, the cholesterol helps in signaling, transport and nerve conduction processes.

There are three types of cholesterols, namely the LDL, the HDL and the Triglycerides. It is expected that the levels of LDL and triglycerides should remain low and the levels of HDL should be higher in a healthy individual. While the former two types constitute the bad cholesterol, the latter one is known as good cholesterol, when found in higher levels.

Presence of bad cholesterol beyond acceptance reduces the width of the pathways to and from the heart. These pathways are known as arteries and veins. Bad cholesterol block these pathways with waxy and sticky cell debris called plaque. As a result, fresh oxygenated blood does not reach the heart in sufficient amounts.

This leads to the inability of the heart to pump oxygen rich blood all over the body. This in turn results in heart pain or angina. Eventually, the heart completely fails in performing its basic function and the life-threatening heart attack occurs.

The HDL form is known as the good cholesterol because it removes the plaque from the veins and arteries and reduces the risk of low supply of blood to and from it. Unfortunately, the build up of bad cholesterol in the body is a process which has no symptoms of its own.

The most primary and potent chemical amongst all the other chemicals in the tobacco is the nicotine. Way back in July 1986, a research study proved that nicotine impaired the process of clearance of LDL cholesterol in blood. The presence of LDL in the blood stream for an extended period of time increased the risk of its deposition in the walls of the arteries and resulting in their subsequent damage.

Nicotine reduces the effects of insulin hormone in the body and allows the rise of sugar level in the blood. The high level of sugar in turn triggers a rise in the level of triglycerides in the blood stream beyond normalcy.

Quitting smoking on the contrary has been found by research studies to increase the levels of HDL 5 percent, though accompanied by some weight gain.

Conclusion: It calls for factors like strong will power, awareness on the bad effects of smoking on health, love and affection for the family members and cooperation from the family doctor to come together in order to quit smoking successfully.