Smoking and heart disease? Most people associate cigarette smoking with breathing problems and lung cancer. But did you know that smoking is also a major cause of heart disease for men and women?

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of heart attack, stroke and peripheral arterial disease. Nearly 40 per cent of all people who die from smoking tobacco do so due to heart and blood vessel disease. A smoker's risk of heart attack reduces rapidly after only one year of not smoking.

Heart disease, also called “cardiovascular disease,” is the leading cause of death in the United States. This broad term encompasses a wide range of cardiovascular problems: everything from coronary artery disease and arrhythmia (heart rhythm abnormalities) to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart infections, and congenital heart defects. When blood vessels become blocked or narrowed, heart attacks, strokes, and other complications can arise.

The heart, which is about the size of a human fist, is the body's largest, strongest, and most important muscle. The heart continuously pumps blood through the body, helps regulate and prolong health, and controls the flow (circulation) of blood to the lungs, organs, muscles, and tissues in the body.

Asthma is a respiratory disorder marked by sudden episodes of coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and feelings of suffocation. In the human respiratory system, air passes through the nasal passages or mouth to the trachea, or windpipe. The trachea then branches into two passages called the bronchial tubes. These tubes divide into a network of smaller tubes, called bronchioles, that supply the lungs with air from the atmosphere. Asthma causes the muscles surrounding the bronchioles to constrict so much that air has difficulty reaching the lungs. The mucous membranes in the affected parts of the lungs swell, contributing to the problem by making the passageways even narrower and producing thick mucus. The person suffering an asthma episode, or attack as it is often called, then experiences difficulty in breathing. The presence of mucus in the lungs causes a further feeling of suffocation. The attacks usually last for a short time, but prolonged attacks can be more serious and even life threatening.

If you have asthma, smoking is especially risky because of the damage it does to the lungs.

Smoke from cigars, cigarettes, and pipes harms your body in many ways, but it is especially harmful to the lungs of a person with asthma. Tobacco smoke is a powerful trigger of asthma symptoms.

Asthma is an inflammatory disease of the lungs. It makes breathing difficult and brings on attacks of coughing, wheezing, tightness in the chest and shortness of breath. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 25 million Americans suffer from asthma. It’s the most common chronic condition among American children. About one in every 10 children has asthma.

When patients complain of recurrent episodes of coughing, wheezing, tightness in the chest, and/or shortness of breath, doctors suspect asthma. Diagnosis involves an examination and medical tests. Once a diagnosis is made, the severity of the case is assessed. Then, treatment begins. It usually involves the use of two types of medications. One provides quick relief during an asthma attack, and the other helps manage inflammation so that asthma symptoms are less likely to flare up.

Asthma is a chronic (long-lasting) inflammatory disease of the airways. In people susceptible to asthma, this inflammation causes the airways to spasm and swell at times so that the airways narrow. The person then must wheeze or gasp for air. Obstruction to air flow either resolves spontaneously or responds to a wide range of treatments, but continuing inflammation makes the airways very sensitive to stimuli such as cold air, exercise, dust mites, pollutants in the air, and even stress and anxiety.

Asthma is a chronic (long-lasting) inflammatory disease of the airways. In those susceptible to asthma, this inflammation causes the airways to spasm and swell periodically so that the airways narrow. The individual then must wheeze or gasp for air.

A recent study is the first to establish a link between the chronic lung condition and both lifetime secondhand smoke exposure as well as recent secondhand smoke exposure. Researchers looked at all newly diagnosed asthma cases in South Finland from mid-1997 through March 2000. Asthma was defined as a history of at least one asthma-like symptom (prolonged cough, wheezing, attacks of or exercise-induced shortness of breath or night time cough or wheezing) accompanied by measurable airways narrowing.