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Smoking and stroke
Scientists have proven that smoking significantly increases the risk of an early death due to a stroke. In 2009-2011, the authors working in a Canadian clinic observed 982 stroke patients. 264 of them regularly smoked. The study showed that the average life expectancy of smokers is 9 years less than in non-smoking patients (accordingly, the age at which stroke results in death is between 58 and 67 years of age).
Scientists have found that smoking significantly accelerates the formation of cholesterol plaques and, thereby, doubles the risk of ischemic stroke (a severed thrombus obstructs the vessel, which leads to an impaired blood circulation in one of the brain regions). In addition, smokers are four times more likely to develop hemorrhagic stroke (brain hemorrhage, which is a result of the ruptured vessel).
In case the patient has already suffered a mild stroke, but has still not quit smoking, the risk of the second stroke will be much more severe. If the patient gives up this habit after the stroke, its influence will completely disappear in 18 months.
According to data obtained by Mike Sharma (Canadian Stroke Center), the risk of stroke can be reduced with the following preventive measures:
- Proper nutrition;
- Regular physical activity;
- Blood pressure monitoring;
- No smoking.
It is very difficult to give up smoking and this is associated with a serious mental strain. Nonetheless, the effects of stroke can be very different and almost all of them are much more severe. Depending on which region of the brain was damaged and severity of this damage, a person can suffer a partial or complete loss of certain functions. The person is deprived of the ability to speak, see and loses memory. Also, one can develop total paralysis, while old people are more likely to die.
The risk of a stroke directly increases with an increased degree of arterial stenosis. When stenosis affects 70% of the lumen or more (this diameter of the lumen of the vessel is on average less than 2 mm), the risk is the highest. In middle degree stenosis (50-70% of the lumen of the artery is closed), the likelihood of stroke is also not excluded, but its probability is significantly lower than in pronounced and severe stenosis. Constant smoking leads to a significant spasm of blood vessels, which increases the risk of stenosis many times.
A co-author of the study, Andrew Pipe, the Heart Institute in Ottawa, made a simple conclusion: "The results of our work once again emphasize that humanity needs to put an end to nicotine addiction."
Nevertheless, despite all the studies and the constant exhortations of scientists, doctors who deal with smoking-related problems unanimously claim: in order to quit smoking, the patient should really want to do it, otherwise, even the best advice and the most progressive techniques will be in vain.
According to VTsIOM (Russian Public Opinion Research Center), every third person in Russia is a smoker today (34% of the population). Also, every fifth person (22% of the population) smokes at least a pack of cigarettes daily. Another 10% smoke several cigarettes every day, while 2% smoke weekly or monthly.
According to this data obtained by experts, only when a person smokes from 1 to 5 cigarettes per day, can it be equated to a mild tobacco addiction. If the patient smokes one packet per day, it is already a question of the addiction of average severity. In this case, the person is no longer able to get rid of a bad habit. The daily smoking intake of two packets of cigarettes is a severe addiction, which experts equate to drug addiction (like, e.g., heroin).
It should be noted that the constant ongoing promotion of a healthy lifestyle combined with increased prices for tobacco products in recent years has led to some positive developments in this area. Statistical studies were carried out which showed:
- In 2009, 41% of the interviewed people smoked;
- 8% of the interviewed quit smoking in 2009;
- In 2009, 51% of the interviewed reported that they have never used cigarettes;
- In 2012, 12% of the interviewed said they quit smoking;
- In 2012, there were 35% of smokers among the interviewed people.
Silent strokes
A significant number of elderly people can transfer relatively small and narrowly localized "silent" strokes. The patient does not notice these symptoms but eventually they have a strong influence on the state of their health. Recent studies have shown that smokers are two times more likely to develop "silent" strokes than non-smokers.
Dr. George Howard, professor of the medical center in North Carolina, believes that the most important risk factors for this type of strokes are hypertension and smoking. He also suggests that their risk for more serious types of stroke is underestimated.
This view is based on the fact that "silent" strokes are caused by thrombosis or small local ruptures of blood vessels in relatively unimportant areas of the brain. The person who has suffered such a stroke cannot feel anything at all, but the delayed effects of "silent" strokes have not been sufficiently studied so far. Nevertheless, scientists argue that patients who have suffered a "silent" stroke are more likely to develop extensive strokes than people who have avoided such health problems. At the same time, the mortality rate is higher than that of other patients.
It was also found out that "silent" strokes were suffered by 11% of people in the age group of 55-70 years and this is a fairly high figure.
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