Well known for its role in the development of lung cancer, cigarettes are also one of the main factors increasing the risk of dying from a heart attack, recalled the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health (CQTS), Sunday morning, by calling on Quebec smokers to quit for good.
“The most striking statistic is without a doubt that smokers are up to four times more at risk of sudden cardiac death than non-smokers,” explained CQTS director general Annie Papageorgiou at the launch. of the week for a tobacco-free Quebec.
Far from being harmless, cigarettes heavily attack the entire cardiovascular system, in particular by accelerating the heart rate and contributing to the hardening of the arteries. In doing so, the risks of suffering from a cardiovascular disease, whether one thinks of a myocardial infarction (heart attack) or a cerebrovascular accident (stroke) will increase, going up to triple in the case of certain diseases.
These are the risks that prompted the spokesperson of the week for a tobacco-free Quebec, the actor and ultramarathoner Patrice Godin, to quit smoking. At 32, he began to suffer from anxiety attacks linked to his “fear of dying suddenly from a heart attack,” he explained to TVA Nouvelles.
His phobia and the successive births of his daughters led him to crush for good. “I said to myself” I want to see them grow up, I want to be healthy “and possibly, perhaps, have grandchildren,” he said.
“I have smoked for over 25 years. I estimate that I have smoked around 190,000 cigarettes in my life, “counted the actor, recalling that in the 1980s, smoking was the norm. “In fact, I found people who didn’t smoke weird,” he said.
Despite everything, he managed to escape his addiction by going back to racing, to get back in shape. Today, he is able to run ultramarathons, going so far as to participate in races totaling more than 300 kilometers.
It must be said that quitting smoking has a major impact on cardiovascular health. Just one year after quitting, the risk of cardiovascular disease drops by half, CQST said.
“Do not despair. […] It’s hard to quit smoking. It is repeated several times, but do not give up. You get there. As for me, if I was able to do it, there are many people who are capable of doing it, ”said Patrice Godin by way of encouragement to smokers who would be tempted to imitate him.
Despite prevention messages, approximately 17.5% of Quebecers aged 12 and over smoked daily in 2018, according to Statistics Canada.
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