According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, each year in the United States, cigarette smoking causes approximately 443,000 deaths, a figure equal to 20 percent of all deaths. In addition to its disastrous effects on the lungs, smoking cigarettes wreaks havoc on the heart and circulatory system. Smoking a cigarette immediately causes a temporary increase in blood pressure and over time permanently damages blood vessels.
Hypertension
Although the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute says that smoking does not cause chronic high blood pressure or hypertension, it does say that smoking temporarily increases blood pressure and that long-term smoking can increase the risk of blood vessel disease. The Mayo Clinic lists smoking as a risk factor for the development of hypertension.
Blood Vessels
The chemicals in tobacco can injure the linings of blood vessels. Over time the damage from tobacco narrows the inside diameter of blood vessels and hardens their walls, with the same net effect as atherosclerosis: as the heart pumps the same volume of blood through narrower, less flexible channels, blood pressure increases, and the heart has to work harder to achieve the same level of circulation. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute says that "smoking is bad for anyone, especially those with high blood pressure."
Nicotine
Nicotine, the "drug" component of tobacco, stimulates the central nervous system. Among many effects as a stimulant, nicotine prompts the release of the hormone epinephrine- also known as adrenaline- from the adrenal gland. As part of the stress response, epinephrine normally prepares the body for action by increasing blood pressure to ensure adequate flow to the muscles and brain. Under the influence of epinephrine, blood vessels constrict and the heart pumps harder. The body does not recognize that a cigarette is not an imminent danger; it responds to the nicotine with an increase in blood pressure just the same.
Second Hand Smoke
Smokers have an increased risk for high blood pressure, but so do those around them who inadvertently inhale the cigarette smoke. According to the Mayo Clinic, secondhand smoke can also increase blood pressure, and they include secondhand smoke as a risk factor for hypertension.
Quitting
Nicotine is addictive and over time, the body reorganizes its complex metabolic balancing act to compensate for an expected amount of nicotine. Thus quitting evokes "the jitters" when the expected jolt of nicotine does not arrive and ironically, nicotine withdrawal can also temporarily cause temporarily high blood pressure, according to Harvard Health, until the body readjusts.
