Smoking Conflicts with Medications
Smoking is directly related to increased blood pressure and cholesterol levels, it causes all kinds of respiratory problems, damages vision and hearing, and may even interfere with the effectiveness of some medications.
While smoking doesn’t reduce the amount of any specific drug in the blood stream, it is known to boost the creation of certain enzymes in the liver. It is the liver that processes the blood, and this is how problems with some very important medications can occur. For example, someone who must use a drug known as theophyline, which is an asthma and COPD treatment, might see that the drug’s effectiveness was reduced simply because of cigarette smoking. The schizophrenia medication known as clozapine is another example of a medication that is disrupted by liver enzymes generated through tobacco use.
Not only can smoking interfere with the effectiveness of certain drugs, but it can lead to life-threatening side effects too. Take the commonly understood risks of smoking while using oral birth control. Almost every brand includes serious warnings of the possibility for increased risks of blood clot formation, stroke, breast cancer and other problems should the patient smoke while using the drug.
What all of this adds up to is the need for a smoker to consider the detrimental effects of their ongoing habit. Although cigarettes don’t interfere with all medications, the risks of increased or decreased heart rate, stroke, the formation of blood clots, and irregular blood pressure should be enough of a problem to inspire someone to quit.
It is important to remember that some of the problems for which the medication is necessary may diminish or cease altogether once the individual fully gives up smoking in the first place. Remember that cigarettes contain around four thousand different chemical compounds (fifty of which are well-known carcinogens), they produce carbon monoxide and highly toxic tar, and are also the hosts to hundreds of germs and bacteria. If someone simply ceased dumping this sort of sludge into their body it will automatically reduce many issues.
Smoking affects everything that happens in the human body. Whether it is the cause of insomnia, respiratory problems, visual issues, decreased appetite, sexual dysfunction, or a host of other issues, simply taking medications will never eliminate the entire problem. As we have just discussed, smoking itself might create a diminishment of the beneficial effects of certain medications too, and all of this adds up to the fact that the sooner a smoker quits, the better their overall health.
