The Smoking Gun

Every time you puff on a cigarette, your blood pressure shoots up like smoke through a chimney. Two cigarettes can raise your readings by about 10 mm Hg systolic and 8 mm Hg diastolic. Now imagine what a half a pack or an entire pack of cigarettes in a day is doing to you!

However, It's true that the effect doesn't last for long. After about 15 minutes, your pressure returns to normal. But think about it: If you smoke two packs a day, that's a total of 40 cigarettes. That's 40 blood pressure "ups" every 24 hours. If you smoke throughout the day, your blood pressure readings can spike higher than normal hour after hour after hour.

Besides, that's only part of the story. The real problem is that smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease. If you already have hypertension, adding smoking to your list of risks makes you a serious candidate for a heart attack.

If you're a smoker, you've probably been bombarded with statistics before. Let's look at some of the most important, courtesy of the American Lung Association:

* More than 430,000 Americans die every year from smoking-related diseases, including those who have heart attacks.

* Cigarettes contain at least 43 cancer-causing chemicals.

* Smoking during pregnancy is responsible for 20 to 30 percent of all low-birth-weight babies.

* Secondhand smoke is very dangerous for children. It causes between 150,000 and 300,000 cases of lower respiratory infections in children every year.

* More American women die annually from lung cancer than from breast cancer.

* In addition to cancer and heart disease, smoking can also cause infertility, slow wound healing, and stomach ulcers.

When it comes to heart disease and hypertension, you can control some risks but not others (such as heredity). Smoking is definitely one you can take care of. If you've just been diagnosed with hypertension, this is the excuse you need to quit smoking for good. You can do it. There are nearly 50 million former smokers out there. And there are another 33 million people who want to become former smokers. Maybe it's time to join the crowd.

And luckily for you, there's a lot more help available than there used to be. You don't have to go cold turkey anymore. You have your choice of prescription and nonprescription products that can help ease your transition.