The annual meeting of the Vascular Disease Foundation in September focused on how far vascular disease awareness has come in 13 years. The gathering also renewed the VDF's mission to continue reducing death and disability from diseases such as peripheral artery disease (PAD) and venous thromboembolism, as well as heart attack and stroke.

Highlights from the annual meeting Speakers at the event included Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, famed as the tobacco industry whistleblower who inspired the Oscar-nominated film, The Insider. Dr. Wigand spoke about the dangerous effects smoking and tobacco can have on the vascular system.

Keeping kids smoke-free
Dr. Wigand's focus is on stopping kids from smoking before they start. "We don't want children to use tobacco in any format," he said. "Tobacco companies are coming out with nicotine delivery systems that look like candy." He stressed that it is much simpler to keep kids from ever starting to use tobacco products, than it is to get them to stop after there is an established addiction. "We need to protect our children," he said.

With that priority in mind, Dr. Wigand spends about 182 days a year in classrooms around the country trying to teach children about the dangers of tobacco use. In particular he talks about the more than 7,000 chemicals, such as nicotine and acetone, in cigarettes. "For me to tell children it is bad for them, goes in one ear and out the other, but when I relate it to a concrete observation, it sticks," he said. One way he does this is with an experiment using acetone to remove nail polish "It is a way of showing them 'do you really want to breathe in nail polish remover?' And the answer is no."

Cutting back is not enough
Even if you just smoke one or two cigarettes a day, your risk for developing a heart disease event, such as a heart attack or angina, increases by 30 percent. Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the Office on Smoking and Health for the CDC, who works with Dr. Frieden, says that is why quitting is so important. "You've got to quit to get back down to the normal risk of a non-smoker," he says "You can't cut down from 20 to 10 cigarettes. That may help a tiny bit, but truly quitting is essential."

The good news is that cigarette use has been going down. The bad news is that tobacco companies are finding new smokeless tobacco options that are just as dangerous. "They are saying 'if you are in a bar and can't smoke, use these instead,'" explains Dr. McAfee. The rising cost of cigarettes has also helped smokers get serious about quitting. But tobacco companies have increased discounts to fight this as well. "Tobacco companies spend about $8 billion a year on discounting, with mail order campaigns and in-store discounting, making it easier to continue smoking," he adds.

Stopping smoking can have immediate effects, even for someone who has had a heart attack. Your chance of another heart attack in the next year can be cut by one third to one half. "It is one of most powerful things you can do to assure you do not have another heart attack," says Dr. McAfee. "People should demand and receive help on how to quit."