Drug Medical Information

CLEANING UP YOUR ACT: WHERE THERE'S SMOKE... THERE ARE FREE RADICALS

Dr. Joseph Giordano, best known as the surgeon who saved Ronald Reagan's life after the 1981 assassination attempt, says, "There is no one who comes into my office with peripheral vascular disease who doesn't smoke or have a history of smoking."
Smoking contributes to vascular disease in various ways, he points out. It causes plaque formation in the arteries producing blockages, causes leg arteries to constrict decreasing their ability to supply blood to muscles, reduces the ability of red cells to supply oxygen to the tissues, and increases clot formation. No matter your age, your arteries are subject to damage if you smoke.
At a 1990 meeting for science writers, researchers revealed they had for the first time linked smoking and blood cholesterol levels to hardening of the arteries in men under 35 years of age.
Dr. Henry McGill, one of the study's directors, said findings were based on autopsies of about 3,90015 to 34 year old men who died violent deaths by age 34. Raised arterial lesions (the beginning of atherosclerosis) were prevalent in the most persistent smokers.
"In this age group, smoking and cholesterol are about equally bad," Dr. McGill told us. Given the wide play the subject's had, itemizing the health risks of smoking seems like overkill.

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