Back Again with question on smoking?

Question

Ok, so we got all this junk in our circulatory system now speeding up heart pressure. Other then eating right, exercising and quitting smoking, has there been a solution created?

I've been looking a bit on the net and found some medicine names such as beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, and diuretics. What do they do?

Answer 1

Time. As soon as you stop smoking your pulmonary and circulatory system will begin to repair themselves. How long have you been smoking and how much? Even a heavy long term smoker after 20 years should have lungs no different than some non-smoker his own age.

Answer 2

Ideally if you adopt healthy lifestyle changes then you should be free of needing medications or treatment at all. Unfortunately some people do have a genetic predisposition toward high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis despite doing "all the right things."
Of course, if you are predisposed towards these problems poor habits only contribute (and multiply) the disease.

For people who do have heart disease the medications that you mention are helpful for congestive heart failure - and to a lesser extent high blood pressure.

B-blockers affect the inonatropic effects of heart contractility and generally slow heart rate.

ACE inhibitors block a hormone mediated by the kidneys to affect blood pressure. It is often useful in reducing "after load" - that is, essentially the pressure the heart has to pump against in your vasculature.

Both of the above medications show improved survival for those who are treated with these medications and have a diagnosis of congestive failure.

Diuretics - aka "water pills" Help reduce to excess fluid and reduce the risk of congestive fluid back-up. These medications are helpful in the quality of life of patients with CHF but do not enhance survival.

Having said all of that, it is much, much better to prevent any of this from ever needing treatment. The estimated survival for someone with a new diagnosis of CHF for five years is substantially less than that of the general population.

Do yourself a favor: An ounce of prevention, yada, yada...you know the rap. If you are still relatively young - less than 50 years old, you have time to change course and probably be okay. If you are older than 50 but younger than 70, changes will help but you probably have done irrepairable damage. If you are older than 75 and been living decades of unhealthy living - there's not that much to benefit from changing your ways at this point...enjoy yourself.

Good luck.

Answer 3

That is the solution; taking care of your body.

Answer 4

No!