The angiopathic risk of inhaling smoke and the "less harmful cigarette". Utopia or chance?
Marshall, M.
Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift 123(11): 415-419
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0341-3098 PMID: 6783845 Document Number: 176993
The carbon monoxide concentrations already found in the work place causes functional damage to the cardiovascular system; CO loads such as occur in cigarette smoking may lead to additional morphologically detectable damage. Nicotine appears to act more through its acute circulatory functional and hemorheologic effects. Consequently the carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke must be considered a potentially dangerous factor for the vascular system, so that a "less harmful cigarette" in this connection must have a low concentration of carbon monoxide in the smoke. In order to be in the assuredly harmless range -- e.g. even for patients with coronary heart disease -- the COHb should lie below 3%. As long as this cannot be achieved, a "less harmful cigarette" remains utopian with regard to the angiopathic risk.