Smoking and PAD—Peripheral Arterial Disease

Peripheral arterial disease can be one of the affects of smoking, this is a disease the affects the legs and feet. The nicotine in tobacco can cause narrowing of the arteries, this can cause less blood flow to the legs and feet, which means they will be affected by this lower amount of blood traveling to them, since they are the furthest from the heart. This lack of oxygen and circulation to the feet can result in them appearing read and shinny and the reason for this is the smoker’s skin is thinner. One of the things that Peripheral Arterial Disease is caused by is a buildup of plaque in the arteries that goes to that region of the body, which causes shrinking and hardening of the arteries, lessening the arterial blood flow. This in retrospect can contribute to strokes due to the lack of proper circulation in the body due to the hardening of the arteries.