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Cigarette smoking and cardiovascular disease

Abstract:

Cigarette smoking is considered a risk factor for many diseases especially for cardiovascular disease. Cigarette smoking it has been related with atherosclerosis from the endothelial dysfunction until the appearance of an acute coronary event. Both the active smoker as the passive are exposed to cardiovascular risk, and it is thought there are a direct relationship and dependent dose with the exhibition to the smoke of the cigarette. This fact however is since debatable because recent experimental clinical studies they have demonstrated that a non lineal relationship exists among the exhibition to the smoke of the cigarette and the cardiovascular illness. The toxic components of cigarette smoke and the mechanisms that relate it with the cardiovascular disease are largely unknown, but it is known that the smoke of the cigarette increases the inflammatory process, the thrombosis and the oxidation of low density lipoprotein cholesterol. Recent studies support the hypothesis that the exhibition to the smoke of the cigarette increases the oxidative stress as a potential mechanism for the initiating cardiovascular dysfunction. Epidemiological studies have been established that the cigarette consumption has been related to an increment of up to 2,5 times more risk for cardiovascular disease than the non smokers. Furthermore, was demonstrated as for long term this risk factor pbkp_redicts that is increased in a significant way the risk of heart attack in those patients that continue with this habit after this event, compared with smokers that stopped to smoke after the first acute coronary event. This way, the evidence that relates the exhibition to the smoke of the cigarette with the cardiovascular illness this clearly supported, but still the specific components of the smoke of the cigarette and the responsible mechanisms for their association have not been elucidated.