Smokers are twice as likely to have a stroke, and this World No Tobacco Day (Wednesday, May 31), Stroke Foundation is urging the 14% of Australians who continue to smoke daily to quit for good.
Professor David Thomas from the Stroke Foundation Health Promotion Advisory Committee says smoking continues to be responsible for more than 20,000 Australian deaths each year.
"The flow-on effects from quitting smoking are immediate, prevention is the best option. Too many families continue to be devastated by stroke and heart disease when it could have been prevented," Professor Thomas said.
"Smoking can lead to stroke in a number of ways. It increases blood pressure, it contains thousands of toxic chemicals which get absorbed into the blood stream, damaging blood vessels and causing arteries to narrow and harden.
"Continuing to smoke after a stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) more than doubles your risk of having another stroke, compared to a stroke survivor who has never smoked. You're also more likely to die from a stroke."
Within a month after a person quits smoking, their blood pressure returns to its normal range. After fifteen years, their risk of stroke or heart attack is almost the same as that of a person who has never smoked.
"Stroke Foundation welcomes the National Tobacco Strategy and the Federal Government's continued attention on smoking. It is pleasing to see smoking rates coming down nationally.
We know fewer people are taking up the habit and more people are quitting smoking," he said. "We encourage anyone who does smoke to make an appointment with their GP and talk to them about the medicines they can take to help quit for good."
More than 27,400 Australians will have a stroke for the first time in their lives this year. There will be one stroke every 19 minutes.Stroke disproportionately impacts the Indigenous population, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more than 1.7 times more likely to be hospitalised for stroke than all non-Indigenous people.
Talk to your doctor about quitting or call the national Quitline on 13 78 48 (13 QUIT).
