Heart Disease and Smoking

Posted By Nate Jones on November 25, 1998 at 12:38:10:







I don't smoke and never have.  However, a friend and I were discussing the significant of smoking on heart disease.  The question came up of how frequent is heart disease present in smokers versus non smokers.  Accordingly, I have the following questions.
     1.  Of a typical cardiologist who treats cornary artery disease, what percentage of patients smoke?
      2.   Has smoking been shown to cause other heart problems besides cornary artery disease?
      3.    What percentage of cardiologists or cardio-thoracic surgeons smoke?
      4.    Is stoping smoking the single best thing that Americans can do to improve the health of their heart?