Smoking and Cholesterol: How It Affects Your Heart - Healthline
When you consider the health hazards of smoking, lung disease and cancer likely come to mind. But the truth is that smoking impacts more than just your lung health. It can increase your risk for heart disease and stroke, high cholesterol, and other heart health issues. In fact, people who smoke are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than people who don't, according to the American Heart Association. And your risk for stroke doubles if you smoke cigarettes. Much of this increased risk stems from the fact that cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals that can damage your blood vessels and increase your cholesterol levels. This can make it harder for your body to remove unhealthy cholesterol from your blood, allowing cholesterol to build up in your arteries. This article will explain how smoking affects your cholesterol levels and what you can do to improve your heart health if you smoke. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance in your blood that's pr...