What are the effects of smoking on stroke risk?
Smoking likely contributes to increased stroke risk through both short-term effects on the risk of thrombus generation in atherosclerotic arteries and long-term effects related to increased Smoking as little as a single cigarette increases heart rate, mean BP, and cardiac index and decreases arterial dis- Beyond the immediate effects of smoking, both active and passive exposure to cigarette smoke is associated with the development of atherosclerosis. In addition to placing individuals at increased risk for both thrombotic and embolic stroke, cigarette smoking approximately triples the risk of cryptogenic stroke among individuals with a low atherosclerotic burden and no evidence of a cardiac source of emboli. Risk is reduced with smoking cessation.