COPD Can Make
Cardiovascular Conditions Worse.

Heart disease

COPD and heart disease often occur together. One reason for this is they share a risk factor: a history of smoking. Continuous smoking can lead to COPD. It can also lead to heart disease.

Since the heart and lungs work together to bring oxygen to all parts of the body, problems in the lungs can put stress on the heart: When the lungs take in less oxygen, the heart has to pump faster to get enough oxygen to the rest of the body. And in cases when the body needs even more oxygen than usual — such as when exercising — this additional stress on the heart can lead to angina (a form of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow). This may be associated with heart attack.

Pulmonary hypertension

One of the dangers of smoking is that it can cause high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs. This is called pulmonary hypertension, and some people with COPD have it because of the shared link to smoking. With this kind of hypertension, your heart must work harder to pump more blood to the damaged lungs because they are less efficient at getting oxygen from the air. And this puts more pressure on the vessel walls of your lungs.

High cholesterol

Smoking can also raise the bad kind of cholesterol. And high cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. It can also lead to a condition called atherosclerosis (the progressive buildup of plaque in the arteries).