Effects of Tobacco on High Blood Pressure
The weight of clinical and laboratory evidence is strongly against it as just one more factor in contributing to high blood pressure.
Dr Logan Clendening, in his book, The Human Body, writes: “”Tobacco has quite measurable effects. Principally these are a constriction of the blood vessels, through their muscular coats, and a rise of blood pressure””.
Dr Emil Bogen, Professor of Public Health, of University of Cincinnati fame, and author of numerous scientific and biochemical studies with regard to tobacco, has expressed these opinions:
“”The circulation responds to nicotine with a marked vaso-constriction or narrowing of the blood vessels…….this constriction of the blood vessels is followed by a rise in the blood pressure…….the various instruments used in recording the blood pressure show changes in the systolic reading after even a few cigarettes have been smoked……There is a positive evidence, too, that smoking induces secretion of the adrenal glands, which, in turn, promotes a rise in the blood pressure.””
U.S Army Medical Corps officers conducted a study of six men smoking cigarettes, all habitual smokers who inhaled. The experiment showed temporary constriction of the arteries after smoking. The pulse rates returned to normal 5 to 15 minutes after the cigarettes, but vascular restriction of the arteries persisted for half an hour to an hour; in some cases much longer.
By smoking cigarettes, wounded soldiers may cause irreparable damage to themselves if they have injured arteries, according to the American Medical Association.
Reports say, one cigarette cancels out 25 milligrams of vitamin C in the body. The daily adult requirement of vitamin C is approximately 250 milligrams, so that ten cigarettes can entirely deplete the body of its supply of this most important vitamin. Very little vitamin C is stored, and it must be taken daily.
A serious lack of Vitamin C will result in scurvy, but any deficiency can lead to bad health in the form of colds, throat infections, bleeding gums and loose teeth, eye trouble, infected wounds rheumatism and a tendency to bruise easily. Vitamin C builds and maintains strong connective tissue and helps the body to fight bacteria and poisonous substances that may enter the body. It strengthens the walls of blood vessels and promotes healthy bone formation.