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As far as smoking and heart disease is concerned, it goes without saying that cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes for heart attacks and strokes as well as a number of other secondary vascular diseases. It is thus a good idea to learn more about smoking and heart disease and probably the first thing that will strike you in this regard is the fact that tobacco has over four thousand chemicals in it and many of these are actually quite poisonous.

Nicotine Means Elevated Blood Pressure

Another fact worth learning about when it concerns smoking and heart disease is that nicotine will cause your blood pressure to rise since the carbon monoxide it contains helps to make hearts beat quicker and it also replaces oxygen in the smoker?s blood. Even worse, tobacco contains tar which is a leading cause of cancer that in turn is a fatal disease.

Thus, the picture with regard to smoking and heart disease is pretty clear and alarming as well, and it can easily be concluded that regular and sustained smoking is a major reason why arteries clog up and this only makes the heart work more than it should which in turn leads to heart diseases since the much needed oxygen that the heart requires does not reach it and therefore, the risk of blood clots forming increases manifold.

In fact, as far as smoking and heart disease goes, it has also been found that people that have smoked regularly and for long periods of time are seventy percent more at risk of dying as a result of coronary heart diseases as compared to those who do not smoke.

Another interesting fact related to smoking and heart disease is that it is believed that as many as eighty percent of first time smokers are in their youth and even passive smoking has been linked to heart diseases. Thus, when it concerns passive smoking and heart disease, even those who do not smoke directly are as much at risk of contracting heart diseases as are those who actually inhale cigarette smoke directly.

Furthermore, even if you are simply living with someone that smokes, your risk vis-?-vis smoking and heart disease increases by as many as thirty percent, and inhaling smoke is especially more dangerous for yet-to-be-born babies as well as little children and it can cause a number of unwanted health problems.

Thus, with all this information clearly showing the many risks associated with smoking and heart disease, it is time for you stop smoking if you want to live longer as well as healthier. If you don?t heed the warning, you can be sure that because of smoking, you risk curtailing your life on this planet, and whatever time you do spend among the living would be no better than a living hell.

Not satisfied with seeing terrorists in human beings, President George W Bush found yet another reason for Americans to go to bed terrified – the bird flu. In 2005, a grand pandemic influenza plan was revealed, principally aimed at when bird flu was supposed to infiltrate our sacred shores. In 2005, Bush said he was prepared to spend $7.1 billion (US) of taxpayers’ money as part of a comprehensive pandemic influenza preparedness plan. God only knows what the price tag actually is.

Just How Bad Is Bird Flu?

Bird flu has been over hyped as everything from the Andromeda Strain to the next bubonic plague. It has killed millions of birds – and about 100 people WORLDWIDE since 2003. That means that all of the fuss, all of the national and state pandemic influenza plans, all of the money spent was all for nothing. This writer, for one, would like to get her part of the bill back.

Besides, no one knows just what will happen during a pandemic. We think we have an idea of when any kind of emergency happens, and then when it does, it always winds up being not quite what we expected. We have only to look at the complete muddle and confusion after hurricane Katrina to know that no one in the government knows what they are doing when it comes to an emergency. So, the current pandemic influenza plan is not only useless, but unnecessary.

But you are far more likely to become a victim of a natural disaster like a flood or a hurricane than you ever will be of the bird flu. A disease that only kills a few people a year is NOT something that we should worry about when we are puffing on our cigarettes, swilling back our beer, chomping on our steaks and watching NASCAR.

Does Anyone Have A Receipt?

There are, of course, far more contagious diseases out there than the bird flu, which was why there is a pandemic influenza plan. It is part of your national, state or local emergency plan which can cover anything from a natural disaster to a terrorist attack. If you want a good laugh (and you paid for it, so you might as well laugh as you can), go to the PandemicFlu.gov website to find out the pandemic influenza plan in your area. You will find that there are no plans actually listed on the site whatsoever.