[header] How to prevent cardiovascular disease [title] Stop smoking. [step] So simple, and yet so difficult for those who battle addiction to cigarettes or other tobacco products. The first thing a doctor who is determining your cardiovascular disease risk will ask is likely to be " do you smoke? ", and his first advice if you reply in the affirmative will be to quit. 
[substeps] Chemical compounds in tobacco contribute to atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries), while the carbon monoxide in smoke replaces some of the oxygen in your blood. These two things force the heart to work harder and make arteries much more susceptible to blockage.