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Smoking is the inhalation of the smoke of burning tobacco encased in cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. Casual smoking is the act of smoking only occasionally, usually in a social situation or to relieve stress.
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Question: What are the negative effects of smoking?Answer: Smokers have an increased risk of the following:Lung cancerLung diseaseHeart attackHeart diseaseHypertensionStrokeOral cancerBladder cancerPancreatic cancerCervical cancerPregnancy complic...
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When you smoke, toxins are carried by your blood to every organ in your body. At the same time, the carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke keeps red blood cells from carrying as much oxygen as normal.
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Adolescent smoking has risen steadily throughout the 1990s, following a sharp decline in the 1970s that leveled off in the 1980s. A 1994 report by the office of the U.S.
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Right away, you may cough, wheeze, and have a sore throat—that's the tar clogging up your lungs. You may also have a headache, feel dizzy, and be nauseated—that's the nicotine in your brain. Over time, you risk lung and throat cancer, and lung diseases like emphysema and bronchitis.
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Smoking is the inhalation of the smoke of burning tobacco encased in cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. Casual smoking is the act of smoking only occasionally, usually in a social situation or to relieve stress.
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Hear the facts about smoking from those who have been doing it for a few years. Find a smoker or two. Ask a few questions. See if their answers sound something like these.
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Smoking during pregnancy reduces oxygen and blood flow to your baby. This may cause bleeding problems that can put your pregnancy at risk.
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Ex-smokers' risk of heart disease may eventually approach that of a lifetime nonsmoker, but their risk of lung cancer is less likely to fade, even after long periods of time.
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Smoking is the inhalation of the smoke of burning tobacco that is used mostly in three forms: cigarettes, pipes, and cigars.Casual smoking is the act of smoking only occasionally, usually in a social situation or to relieve stress. A smoking habit...
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One of the major triggers for asthma attacks is cigarette smoke. Cigarette, pipe, or cigar smoke is especially harmful to people with asthma because it damages the cells in the lungs that make the protective coating lining the bronchial tubes.
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Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do to keep your heart disease from getting worse. Smoking reduces oxygen flow to your heart, speeds plaque buildup, and increases your risk for heart attack.
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Detailed information on respiratory diseases and smoking, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer
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When you are trying to quit, the support of friends, coworkers and family members can make a big difference.
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Life may seem out of control, but you're really making progress. You're going through withdrawal, which is how your body recovers from smoking.
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The most common reasons include: "Smoking gives me more energy. I smoke to keep from slowing down. I reach for a cigarette when I need a lift. When I'm tired, smoking perks me up."
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Everybody knows smoking is bad for your health. Now here's something you may not know: Smoking is bad for your looks. It's true.
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Detailed information on teens and smoking Diseases caused by smoking kill more than 437,900 people in the United States each year; around 35 percent of these deaths were cardiovascular related. Even with anti-smoking campaigns and medical disclaimers in place, many people continue to smoke or start smoking every year. According to the American Cancer Society, 90 percent of new smokers are children and teenagers, in many cases, replacing the smokers who quit or died prematurely from a smoking-related disease.
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Do you have healthy gums? You may kiss them goodbye if you're a smoker.
Do you have healthy gums? You may kiss them goodbye if you're a smoker, the American Dental Association (ADA) says.
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Smoking damages your arteries, and it's thought that the damaged arteries in the discs and joints in your back may lead to pain and injury.
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Teens who smoke are more likely to quit if they can be convinced to participate in a cessation program that emphasizes the health risks of smoking, provides motivational encouragement and coping skills, and encourages a healthy overall lifestyle.
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For most people, the best way to quit smoking is some combination of medicine, a method to change personal habits and emotional support.
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Smoking is an important and preventable cause of death and illness. However, as more money has been spent on smoking cessation programs, the incidence of cigarette smoking has risen.
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Among other things, keep a personal benefits log. Write down the benefits you experience from being smoke-free (for example, I can smell flowers again!) Write the specific occurrence, the date it first happened, and your reaction.
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Every day, nearly 6,000 teens and pre-teens try cigarettes for the first time, according to the American Lung Association. A third of these first-timers will end up becoming smokers.
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A smoker's recovery plan includes listing those activities that you have chosen to help reduce the pressures of nicotine withdrawal and staying smoke-free.
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I know that smoking is very bad for me. I've cut down to one cigarette after lunch and another after dinner each day, with two or three more on most weekend nights when I socialize. I really enjoy smoking, but I want to know if I'm harming myself.
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The personal motivation list will help you identify the benefits of quitting, for you, for your family, and for your friends.
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When people consider the cost of smoking, they usually focus on the cost of the cigarettes alone. But that's only the first step.
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In populations, blood pressures fit a normal distribution, but the attendant risks of heart disease and stroke increase curvilinearly with increasing levels of blood pressure, without any obvious breakpoint ( Fig. 63-1 ). Thus, the separation of normal from high blood pressure is arbitrary, and the definition of hypertension has been a moving target.
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The lower number is the diastolic pressure, which is the pressure when the heart is filling or relaxing before the next beat. Normal blood pressure for an adult is 120/70(on average), but normal for an individual varies with the height, weight, fi...
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Hypertension is the term used to describe high blood pressure.Blood pressure readings are measured in millimeters of mercury(mmHg) and usually given as two numbers. For example, 120 over 80(written as 120/80 mmHg).The top number is your systolic p...
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Detailed information on high blood pressure, also called hypertension, including symptoms, diagnostic, and treatment information
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The following Clinical Topic Tour provides an overview of hypertension (HTN) and was adapted from materials published by the NHLBI.
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Primary, or essential, hypertension is caused by external factors; secondary hypertension is related to an underlying disorder, such as a congenital heart defect or kidney disease. Factors that increase the risk of high blood pressure include age(...
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Each day that your blood pressure is too high, your chances of having a stroke are increased.
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Knowing the definitions of terms your doctor may use when talking with you about your blood pressure is important.
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Detailed information on high blood pressure, also called hypertension, including symptoms, diagnostic, and treatment information
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High blood pressure is a sneaky ailment. The condition has no symptoms that you can see or feel. Having your blood pressure checked is the only way to know if it is high.
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This report explains what your blood pressure numbers mean and how hypertension can be prevented and treated by making diet and lifestyle changes. Also includes information on medications.
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Detailed information on high blood pressure, also called hypertension, including symptoms, diagnostic, and treatment information
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Hypertension is an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke, leading causes of morbidity and mortality in North America. Concern has been raised that there is inadequate outpatient detection, evaluation, and treatment of hypertension, and that this is resulting in increased hospital admissions with complications of untreated hypertension: heart failure, and end-stage renal disease .
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Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it flows through them.
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Prehypertension is a new term that alerts people to the risk of developing chronic high blood pressure if they don't take timely steps to improve their lifestyle habits.
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High blood pressure is more common among African Americans than other ethnic groups. Nearly 40 percent of non-Hispanic blacks have hypertension.
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When I get up in the morning, my systolic blood pressure is 30 to 50 points higher than it is later in the day (about 110). I am taking three different blood pressure medications. Is this unusual?
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High blood pressure has joined type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol on a list of ailments that once struck only adults but now afflict children.
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The National High Blood Pressure Education Program(NHBPEP) was established in 1972 by the National Institute of Health to translate research results on the health hazards of high blood pressure into clinical and public health practice. Before 1900...
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While people with high blood pressure are typically told to abstain from alcohol, a study suggests that moderate alcohol consumption may help prevent them from having a heart attack.
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A Harvard Medical School doctor discusses possible causes of low blood pressure.
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Is it absolutely necessary for a diabetic who does not have high blood pressure to take a blood pressure pill anyway?
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Did you know you can purchase your own blood pressure monitor and check the reading yourself at home?
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Detailed information on high blood pressure, also called hypertension, including symptoms, diagnostic, and treatment information
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High blood pressure, or hypertension, is the most common chronic adult illness in the United States. There is no cure for high blood pressure, but it can be controlled.
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The FDA has approved a new blood pressure drug that works by inhibiting hte production of renin, a substance made by the kidneys that is the first step in the body's system of regulating blood pressure.
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A healthy blood pressure level can reduce your risk for many serious diseases and increase your longevity.
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High blood pressure (hypertension) is called the silent killer. This is because many people who have it don't know it. You can take an easy test to see if your blood pressure is too high. If it is high, you can take steps to lower it. Doing so could save your life.
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What causes high blood pressure in a 4-year-old?
Claire McCarthy, M.D., is a senior medical editor for Harvard Health Publications. She is an instructor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician at Children's Hospital of Boston, and co-director of the pediatrics department at Martha Eliot Health Center, a neighborhood health service of Children's Hospital. The author of two books, "Learning How the Heart Beats" and "Everyone's Children", Dr. McCarthy was a regular columnist for "Sesame Street Parents Magazine" from 1995 to 1998 and is currently a contributing editor for "Parenting Magazine".
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Risk factors are things that make you more likely to have a disease or condition. Do you know your risk factors for high blood pressure?
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In most cases, high blood pressure responds to treatment, but the success of the treatment is up to you.
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Prehypertension is a new term that alerts people to the very real risk of developing chronic high blood pressure if they don't take timely steps to improve their lifestyle habits.
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Even if your blood pressure is normal or high-normal, you're still at increased risk for hypertension (high blood pressure), the condition in which your heart works too hard and the resulting forceful blood flow harms arteries.
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Hypertension, or high blood pressure, isn't limited to those 18 and older.Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects almost one in three adults in the United States. But this serious health condition isn't limited to those ages 18 and older, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
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For those living with high blood pressure, lifestyle changes such as eating a healthier diet, exercising regularly, and losing weight will likely have a positive effect not just on blood pressure, but on overall health.
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High blood pressure can contribute to sexual problems, as can some treatments for it.
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Is it possible for a blockage in the kidneys to cause high blood pressure? What type of blockage would there be in a kidney?
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The number of Americans with high blood pressure has risen steadily since the 1960s, and now tops 65 million.
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If you have high blood pressure, you need to know, so you can control it. If you don't, you increase your risk for serious illness.
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Hypertension is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries.
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Isolated systolic hypertension, when the systolic blood pressure is above 140 while the diastolic pressure is below 90, is caused by stiffening of large arteries. Medication may be prescribed, but lifestyle changes will have more impact on overall health.
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A study reports that if the vertebra that supports the skull is misaligned, careful manipulation of it may result in a significant drop in blood pressure.
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Hypertension is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it flows through them.
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An old theory about the connection between headache and high blood pressure makes a comeback.
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The category of prehypertension was established to serve as a warning. Those whose blood pressure reading falls in it should work to lower their pressure through diet, exercise, and weight control, though in some cases medication may be prescribed.
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Hypertension is high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of arteries as it flows through them.As blood flows through arteries it pushes against the inside of the artery walls.
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Polycystic kidney disease(PKD) is one of the most common of all life-threatening human genetic disorders. It is an incurable genetic disorder characterized by the formation of fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys of affected individuals.
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Polycystic kidney disease is a kidney disorder passed down through families in which multiple cysts form on the kidneys, causing them to become enlarged.Cysts- kidneys; Kidney- polycystic; Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease; ADPKD.Polycy...
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Detailed information on the different types of polycystic kidney disease, including autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, and acquired cystic kidney disease
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Two years ago I had a large complex cyst removed from my right kidney. From my symptoms, it seems it has returned. Is this common?
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Polycystic kidney disease(PKD) is one of the most common of all life-threatening human genetic disorders. It is an incurable genetic disorder characterized by the formation of fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys of affected individuals.
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Polycystic kidney disease(PKD) is one of the most common of all life-threatening human genetic disorders. It is an incurable genetic disorder characterized by the formation of fluid-filled cysts in the kidneys of affected individuals.
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I have been diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease. The specialist also told me that my bluish/purple fingers and toes were "acrocyanosis." What is acrocyanosis, and what is its relationship to connective tissue disease?
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Women''s health differs from men''s health, and not just with respect to reproduction. To understand and examine these differences appropriately, the variables of sex and gender are each relevant.In general, sex refers to biological, anatomical, phy...
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Cerebral aneurysm is the enlargement, distention, dilation, bulging, or ballooning of the wall of a cerebral artery or vein. Aneurysms affect arteries throughout the body, including blood vessels in the brain(intracerebral aneurysm).
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An aneurysm is an abnormal widening or ballooning of a portion of an artery due to weakness in the wall of the blood vessel.It is not clear exactly what causes aneurysms. Some aneurysms are present at birth(congenital).
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Detailed information on the dangers of aneurysm, how an aneurysm develops, and aneurysm diagnosis
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If you are a man between the ages of 65 and 75, and you smoke or once smoked, you should ask your doctor to check you for a common but generally silent condition that can suddenly turn deadly.
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A Harvard Medical School physician discusses brain aneurysms, and whether or not they run in families.
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