Cigarette smoking most detrimental to women - Cardiologist

Cigarette smoking most detrimental to women – Cardiologist

Jul 08, 2014 News

Although research suggests that men are more prone to cigarette smoking, the effects of such activities could be

Dr. Mahendra Carpen

more detrimental to women.
This state of affairs was amplified by Resident Cardiologist at the Caribbean Heart Institute (CHI), Dr. Mahendra Carpen, who said “the effect of cigarette smoking for a woman is much worse than it is for a man. It affects their health more severely as it results in much more complications.”
Dr. Carpen’s assertion have been substantiated by a number of researches which have the common conclusion that, although women smokers are fewer, they are at greater risk for developing a variety of complications ranging from lung and cervical cancer to premature menopause and infertility, and even osteoporosis and heart disease.
But although data suggest that women are at greater risk in the cigarette smoking equation, there is still need for great attention to be focused on men who are the chief smokers of this substance.
Apart from developing respiratory challenges, Dr. Carpen disclosed that even greater numbers of men are prone to heart disease. And this situation is evident right here in Guyana as according to the Cardiologist, “there is a very higher percentage of men I see who smoke cigarettes and develop heart disease…”
Moreover, the challenge faced by the health sector Dr. Carpen said, “Is how do we do the things that have been shown to prevent our cardiovascular mortality and morbidity…There are some things you can change and some things you can’t change.”
According to him among the things that can be changed are lifestyle behaviours, such as smoking and drinking which together or individually can have very daunting health effects. “Some people are at risk because of their genetics or because of diseases they would have developed like diabetes and hypertension which you can try to control as best as you can,” said Dr. Carpen.
He however, noted that “as you get older your risk for cardiovascular diseases goes up and you can’t change that. What you can change is your social behaviour pattern.”
“You can change alcohol consumption, you can change cigarette smoking and there is always hope for you if you stop,” stressed the Cardiologist who added that “your risk goes down but there is not an immediate decrease in your risk. However, the longer you stay off of these substances the better your risk profile starts to look.”
And those at especially high risk for cardiovascular diseases, according to Dr. Carpen, are those persons who suffer from diabetes and/or hypertension and yet indulge in cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. Their condition can be compounded with high cholesterol and a sedentary lifestyle, the Cardiologist noted. And even as he highlighted the need to raise awareness to reduce these health threats in society, Dr. Carpen recalled that long ago medicines were given to persons to help curb their desire for alcohol for instance. However, he cautioned that this practice should not be encouraged. “Medicines were given to patients and that saw a taste of alcohol making them violently upset but that is not really the way to go…People should make that choice on their own,” noted Dr. Carpen.
He added that “history has shown that forcing people to act a certain way is only so good to an extent, after that people revert to what they feel normal and comfortable doing.”
The advantage of reduced alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking, according to Dr. Carpen, will allow for reduced chronic lung disease, lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases, among other health complications, a development that is already unfolding with legislative moves to curb public smoking.

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