Another Smoking Tragedy Claiming Victims

Every day smokers are given new reasons to quit smoking and they are valid ones. There are the obvious ones such as lung cancer and heart disease, but this is only the beginning of a long list. This list, as any novice researcher will attest to are the effects of not just nicotine but the effects of many additives that make up the composition of the modern tobacco products, such as cigarettes. Some people might be surprised that cigarettes additives are not regulated. It is bad enough to deal with the side effects of nicotine alone, which it is now believed is the cause of Buergers disease.

The basics of Buergers disease are as follows. The arteries and veins become inflamed for starters. The pain that most people report from the episodes or flair-ups are not chronic in nature, but will gradually worsen as time goes by. The victims are usually men around the age of 40, all or mostly all are smokers. Women are not immune to this disease, however female cases only make up about 20% of those affected. While the pain is very real, it gets worse.

While the pain is serious it is the damage being done that needs to be addressed. Because people will suffer with the pain only to have it completely stop for certain amounts of time, they will typically ignore it. People have reported the pain just going away for weeks to years at a time. Most smokers are not going to be rushing to the doctor with every little ache and pain, especially those that seemingly stop for no reason.

The pain comes directly from the small arteries becoming blocked, usually in the hands and feet. Everyone is different in where the pain strikes. Some will have it in just one foot, while others will only have pain in a few toes or fingers. The pain can come at any time. Some will suffer when exercising while others will only feel it when relaxing and at rest. The blockage starts at the fingers and toes but eventually will move up to feet and arms. The fear is that the damage that this pain stems from will result in infection and dead tissue.

Starving the extremities of blood flow is a very good description of Buergers disease. This is also evidenced by a blue tint in the areas of the feet and hands as well as a coldness to the area. If any part of the body doesn't get blood in a timely manner, that area will die and is prone to gangrene which will require surgery. Very little is really known about this disease, but researches do know that smoking is a larger part of the cause. Any damage already caused can never be improved and the only way to stop the spreading of this condition is to completely stop using all tobacco