Why should patients with cerebral infarction quit smoking and alcohol?

Generally, there are several reasons why stroke patients must quit smoking and drinking alcohol, including exacerbating atherosclerosis, promoting thrombosis, increasing blood viscosity, affecting blood pressure stability, and damaging vascular endothelial cells. The specific details are as follows:

1. Exacerbating Atherosclerosis

Harmful substances in cigarettes, such as nicotine and tar, can damage vascular endothelial cells, compromising the integrity of blood vessel walls. Once the endothelium is damaged, lipids in the blood are more likely to deposit within the vessel walls, accelerating the formation and progression of atherosclerotic plaques and increasing the risk of stroke recurrence. Long-term heavy alcohol consumption disrupts lipid metabolism, leading to elevated levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and other lipid components in the blood, promoting the development of atherosclerosis.

2. Promoting Thrombosis

Smoking enhances platelet aggregation in the blood, making it easier for blood clots to form. At the same time, smoking reduces the levels of nitric oxide in the blood, which has antithrombotic effects, further weakening the body's ability to resist blood clots and increasing the likelihood of new thrombi forming and blocking cerebral vessels. Alcohol can affect the activity of coagulation factors, causing the blood to remain in a hypercoagulable state, increasing the likelihood of thrombus formation. This hypercoagulable state increases the risk of recurrent cerebral vessel occlusion, leading to disease deterioration or recurrence.

3. Increasing Blood Viscosity

Smoking reduces the deformability of red blood cells in the blood, increasing blood viscosity. When blood viscosity increases, blood flow slows down, easily forming vortices that promote thrombus formation, impairing cerebral circulation, hindering the recovery of stroke patients' conditions, and potentially triggering new strokes. Alcohol can increase the content of fibrinogen in the blood, leading to increased blood viscosity. In addition, alcohol consumption may cause dehydration, further increasing blood viscosity.

4. Affecting Blood Pressure Stability

Smoking stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, causing it to release hormones such as norepinephrine, resulting in a sudden rise in blood pressure. Stroke patients already have pathological changes in their cerebral vessels; a sudden increase in blood pressure exerts greater pressure on the vessel walls, triggering stroke recurrence or serious complications such as cerebral hemorrhage. Although alcohol consumption may temporarily dilate blood vessels and lower blood pressure shortly after drinking, it is often followed by reactive blood pressure elevation, leading to significant blood pressure fluctuations.

5. Damaging Vascular Endothelial Cells

Harmful substances in smoke directly injure vascular endothelial cells, impairing the barrier function of the endothelium and increasing the permeability of the vessel walls. This allows harmful substances in the blood to more easily enter the vessel walls, promoting the occurrence and progression of stroke. Alcohol and its metabolite acetaldehyde have toxic effects on vascular endothelial cells. Long-term alcohol consumption leads to endothelial cell dysfunction, causing vasoconstriction and reduced blood flow, which is detrimental to vascular repair and recovery in stroke patients.

Stroke patients should resolutely quit smoking and drinking alcohol, maintain a healthy lifestyle, such as eating a balanced diet, engaging in moderate exercise, and maintaining regular sleep patterns, to improve their quality of life and reduce the risk of stroke recurrence.