Question

The nurse is providing teaching about smoking cessation to a patient with heart disease who smokes 1 to 1½ packs of cigarettes per day. Which statement should the nurse include?

A.The reduction of nicotine use will decrease blood pressure.
B.Weight loss occurs with the decreased use of nicotine.
C.Smoking decreases the heart rate and increases the respiratory rate.
D.Smoking causes a decreased workload for the heart.

Answer 1

Smoking increases the risk of heart disease due to its effects on the cardiovascular system. Nicotine stimulates both sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia, leading to increased blood pressure, and alters the regularity of the heart rate, causing arrhythmias.

Step-by-step explanation:

Smoking increases the risk of heart disease due to its effects on the cardiovascular system. One reason is that nicotine, which is present in tobacco smoke, stimulates both sympathetic and parasympathetic ganglia in the autonomic system. This leads to an increase in blood pressure due to the sympathetic input, as there is no significant parasympathetic regulation of blood pressure.

Another reason is that the autonomic control of the heart is unique compared to other organs. Cardiac muscle is intrinsically active and is modulated by the autonomic system. The conflicting signals from nicotine alter the regularity of the heart rate and can cause arrhythmias, which are risk factors for heart disease.