A recent study showed that high blood pressure is picked up less often in people who smoke. Researchers investigated more than 20,000 men and women in England and found that smokers were less likely to be aware that they had high blood pressure than non-smokers.
Experts said that smoking and high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, are both key causes of early death.
Even the doctors encourage those with high blood pressure to stop smoking and that greater effort should be made to look for signs of the condition in those who smoke.
But it was being found less frequently in people who smoked compared with those who did not, or those who used to smoke but had quit.
One reason for the shortage of diagnosis could be that smokers in the study tended to be thinner than those who did not smoke.
The researchers also added that people who were overweight are more likely to test blood pressure.
Dr. Jennifer Mindell said it was disappointing to find that smokers with high blood pressure were not being diagnosed.
He explained: “It’s important to pick up high blood pressure in everybody but it’s particularly important in somebody who already has a higher than average risk of heart disease or stroke, including those who smoke. And anything that gives people additional motivation to quit must be a good thing.”
June Davison, a cardiac nurse from the British Heart Foundation, said: “It is urgent that smokers are aware of their blood pressure as smoking and high blood pressure are among the most common risk factors for cardiovascular disease.”
This study also highlights that if smokers are made aware of their high blood pressure, it can increase their motivation to stop smoking.
Anti-tobacco researchers concluded that hypertension detection among smokers is lower than among non-smokers because of less frequent measurements of blood pressure is not known. That’s why they advise smokers over the age of 40 to go for a health check where their blood pressure will be measured and advice on quitting smoking can be given.
Tobacco Info
Tobacco is an annual or bi-annual growing 1-3 meters tall with large sticky leaves that contain nicotine. Native to the Americas, tobacco has a long history of use as a shamanic inebriant and stimulant. It is extremely popular and well-known for its addictive potential.
Nicotiana rustica leaves. Nicotiana rustica leaves have a nicotine content as high as 9%, whereas Nicotiana tabacum (common tobacco) leaves contain about 1 to 3%
A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sumatra, Philippines, and the Eastern United States.
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it may be in the form of cigarettes smoking, snuffing, chewing, dipping tobacco, or snus.
Cigarettes are smoking products consumed by people and made out of cut tobacco leaves. Cigars are typically composed completely of whole-leaf tobacco. A cigarette has smaller size, composed of processed leaf, and white paper wrapping. The term cigarette refers to a tobacco cigarette too but it can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cannabis.
