Smoking is very bad for your heart. It greatly increases the risk of a heart attack, other types of heart disease and stroke.
Quitting smoking is the most important way to lower your risk of heart problems. The good news is that once you stop smoking, the extra risk is reduced quickly.
Smoking affects the vessels that supply blood to your heart and other parts of your body. It reduces the amount of oxygen in your blood and damages blood vessel walls.
Smoking can increase the risk of:
Cigarette smoke has thousands of chemicals, including these dangerous ones:
Breathing in other people's smoke (passive smoking) on a regular basis increases your risk of heart disease by about 30%. Try not to be around other people who smoke.
We don't support using e-cigarettes. It’s better to stop smoking altogether.
Quitting smoking can be hard at first. But it's like learning to ride a bike or drive a car - you can do it with planning, practice and help. The benefits of quitting outweigh any temporary difficulties or symptoms you may feel.
Many people slip up after they quit and start smoking again. Don’t see this as a failure. Instead think about what made you smoke again. How can you deal with this situation next time? What worked and what didn’t work? Learn from this and try quitting again. You become better at quitting each time you try.
You can get lots of help to quit. Talk to your doctor or health practitioner about giving up smoking.
Call the Quitline (13 7848) or visit the Quit website.
You can also use the quit smoking action plan designed to help heart attack survivors. Learn more about recovering from a heart attack.
Having a plan makes quitting easier. Use this action plan designed for heart attack survivors to help you.
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