Smokers' hearts don't pick up pace.For some people, the combination of vigorous activity and cigarette smoking can prove deadly. A new study shows that smokers whose hearts fail to rev up Verb 1. rev up - speed up; "let's rev up production" step up increase - make bigger or more; "The boss finally increased her salary"; "The university increased the number of students it admitted" 2. in response to exercise run a five times greater risk of heart attack or death than nonsmokers do. That increased risk isn't simply a reflection of poor physical condition, says Michael S. Lauer of the Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic (formally known as the Cleveland Clinic Foundation) is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Cleveland Clinic was established in 1921 by four physicians for the purpose of providing patient care, research, and medical Foundation. Lauer and his team ruled out the effects of physical fitness in the new study, which appears in the Aug. 5 Circulation. The nicotine nicotine, C10H14N2, poisonous, pale yellow, oily liquid alkaloid with a pungent odor and an acrid taste. It turns brown on exposure to air. in tobacco mimics the action of a hormone hormone, secretory substance carried from one gland or organ of the body via the bloodstream to more or less specific tissues, where it exerts some influence upon the metabolism of the target tissue. called epinephrine, which boosts heart rate during physical activity. Thus, a smoker's heart is constantly bombarded with messages to pick up the pace. After a while, the heart may become immune to these signals and fail to speed up, even when the body requires lots of oxygenated blood Oxygenated blood Blood carrying oxygen through the body. Mentioned in: Patent Ductus Arteriosus , as during exercise, Lauer says. The team studied more than 3,000 men and women who participated in the Framingham Heart Study The Framingham Heart Study is a cardiovascular study based in Framingham, Massachusetts. The study began in 1948 with 5,209 adult subjects from Framingham, and is now on its third generation of participants. . About one-third of the smokers in the study showed a dulled heart response during an exercise test. Heavy smokers' hearts failed to speed up most often, Lauer notes. The death rate during the 8-year study was 2 percent for male nonsmokers and 4 percent for male smokers whose hearts responded normally during an exercise test. Fully 10 percent of male smokers with an abnormal heart test died over the course of the study. Three percent of male nonsmokers developed heart disease or had a heart attack during the study period. That risk soared to 21 percent for male smokers with an impaired heart rate during the exercise challenge, the team noted. Women, who tend to develop heart disease later than men, were not included in the death rate or heart disease analysis because too few of them had died or suffered a heart attack during the study. Lauer believes that the dangers of a heart that fails to speed up will apply to female as well as male smokers. For people who smoke, the study is yet another reason to kick the nicotine habit. "If smokers quit, their heart rate responses will probably revert re·vert v. 1. To return to a former condition, practice, subject, or belief. 2. To undergo genetic reversion. to normal," Lauer says. That should lower their risk of death and heart disease, he adds. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion