Athletes are not protected from the harmful effects of tobacco

Many athletes believe that the benefits of practicing a sporting activity on the body will compensate for the risks linked to smoking. However, it is responsible for more than 75,000 deaths per year. Tobacco remains harmful to health but also poses significant risks to the health of everyone, including athletes. For the same effort, the respiratory capacity of a smoker is much lower than that of a non-smoker. Smoking more than 20 cigarettes per day, for example, can cause hypoxia (which corresponds to a drop in the amount of oxygen in the blood) similar to hypoxia caused when you are at an altitude of more than 2,500 meters. Physical activity requires a flow of blood to the muscles to provide the necessary oxygen and sugar by means of vasodilation. In an athlete who smokes, the same exercise will require an increase in cardiac work, thereby tiring the heart and increasing the risk factor for coronary diseases, sudden death or heart attack. Furthermore, the most dangerous cigarette is the one that immediately follows sports and a shower. The latter is often very hot, which has the effect of maintaining vasodilation. When the athlete smoker goes out to go to a cooler environment and smokes a cigarette by pulling hard to warm up, he accumulates several vasoconstriction factors. Consequently, tobacco and sports do not go well together. Athletes are at increased risk of cardiovascular accidents during their practice; quitting is the best option to prevent these risks and to improve physical performance. ©Generation Without Tobacco

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|| ©DNF For a Zero Tobacco world