AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Nicotine affects your heart by: Increasing your blood pressure. Speeding up your heart rate. Narrowing your arteries.

Detailed explanation-2: -Nicotine is a dangerous and highly addictive chemical. It can cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, flow of blood to the heart and a narrowing of the arteries (vessels that carry blood). Nicotine may also contribute to the hardening of the arterial walls, which in turn, may lead to a heart attack.

Detailed explanation-3: -Cigarette smoking increases efferent sympathetic nerve traffic acutely, 4, 5 as well as norepinephrine and epinephrine release. This catecholamine release increases myocardial work and oxygen consumption through an increase in blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and myocardial contractility.

Detailed explanation-4: -The risk of CVD increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and when smoking continues for many years. Smoking cigarettes with lower levels of tar or nicotine does not reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes heart disease in nonsmokers.