Were you aware that coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and the leading cause of death caused by smoking? It's true. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services smoking and heart disease are strongly related. Smoking is hard on the heart, and the toxins in cigarette smoke cause plaques to form in your arteries, which leads to atherosclerosis, otherwise known as hardening of the arteries.

Atherosclerosis is a progressive hardening of the arteries caused by the deposit of fatty plaques and the scarring and thickening of the artery wall. Inflammation of the artery wall and the development of blood clots can obstruct the flow of blood to the heart and cause heart attacks or strokes.

Cigarette smoking has been associated with sudden cardiac death of all types in both men and women. Smoking-related coronary heart disease may contribute to congestive heart failure.

Serious consequences arise from smoking cigarettes. My mother smoked most of her life. I lost her just recently and I miss her. Not to lung disease or lung cancer or anything to do with her lungs but to heart disease.

Most people that have smoked for a long time think that smoking is only affecting their lungs. Well, I am here to tell you, that is not the case. I tried and tried to get her to quit but she would always have some reason why she couldn't. One of the reasons she used was, "I get an x-ray of my lungs every year and it shows nothing wrong." "I am smoking the lowest tar and nicotine cigarettes available."

She came to visit us in Nevada in August. She lived in Florida. When she was here on her last visit she said something very peculiar. She said, "Honey, I never knew that smoking affected your heart. I knew it affected my lungs, but not my heart." I didn't understand at the time what she was trying not to say. She had just retired. She and my father had plans. She went home and was gone in September. She died of a severe heart attack.

There are so many smokers who do not realize all the damage they are causing in their body and the life they are squandering to cigarettes. Hopefully, this article will enlighten you. I wish my mother would have read an article like this before it was too late. Smoking and heart disease do go hand in hand.

KimberlyAnn