Smoking Affects The Body

Smoking has a large effect on all systems of the body. W.R, a 48 year old plumber has a 36- pack year smoking history. One of the major effects of smoking is atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the hardening and narrowing of the blood vessels due to a fat and plaque buildup on the vessels. Some of the major risk factors for atherosclerosis include hypercholesterolemia, increasing age, sex- male being more prevalent than females, high blood cholesterol levels, cigarette smoking, obesity, and hypertension, all of which the patient has. (1)
There are three main types of lesions associated with atherosclerosis, including fatty streaks, fibrous atheromatous plaques, and complicated lesions. Regardless of factors such as sex, race, and lifestyles, …show more content…
Endothelial cells line all blood vessels. The endothelial cells are responsible for the blood supply to the tissues. If the endothelial cells are damaged, the tissue perfusion is inadequate which may result to the death of a tissue on the body. Endothelial cells, along with basal lamina and pericytes line the entire vasculature system. Some of the endothelial cell’s roles within the body include maintaining normal function and structure of the vessels. Endothelial cells are able to signal to other surrounding tissues in order to maintain homeostasis in the body. Endothelial cells are also able to signal neurological responses to cause blood vessel dilation when there is an increase in blood pressure. In order to cause dilation, nitric oxide, which is responsible for smooth muscle contraction is released and the smooth muscles then relax within the vessels causing dilation. W.R., because he is a faithful smoker, has damaged the endothelial cells that maintain the structure and function of the vessels. W.R.’s blood pressure is extremely high, although because the endothelial cells are damaged they are unable to signal surrounding tissues to induce vasculature dilation to decrease the blood pressure. Because of this, W.R.’s blood pressure will remain high, resulting in hypertension. …show more content…
is an avid smoker. Because the patient has a long history of smoking and an increased blood pressure and pulse, the patient has a high susceptibility to atherosclerosis which resulted in W.R.’s hypertension. Smoking injures endothelium cells, which is located in the tunica intima of the blood vessel. The tunica intima is the layer of the vessel that comes in contact with the blood inside of the lumen. Once endothelial cells are injured, chemotactic agents and mitosis- inducing, or growth inducing factors are released. These chemotactic agents and growth inducing factors that have been released then travel through the blood and pick up lipids. Low desnsity lipoproteins (LDLs) are highly targeted. After the LDLs and lipids are accumulated, they begin to oxidize inside the vessel along the wall. This oxidization occurring attracts macrophages , which become distended with the lipids and LDLs that were collected and they become foam cells. The accumulation of foam cells form a fatty streak, which is a step in atherosclerosis. Because W.R. reports a history of a high fat dietary history, this aided in the lipids that were found. Next, smooth muscle cells will multiply and form a fibrous cap, or plaque. From the tunica media, which is the second layer in the blood vessel, smooth muscle cells will migrate and collagen and elastic fibers will be deposited. After this deposition occurs, the intima will thickin and lesions will become present causing plaques. As a part of the