Smokers face risk Of limb amputation

During an interview with The Monitor recently, Mbangtang revealed that the majority of patients whose limbs are amputated in hospitals are not due to road traffic accidents but to tobacco related diseases. He said tobacco smoking is one of the main causes of peripheral vascular diseases. These, he explained, are diseases of blood vessels outside the heart and brain.

According to Dr Mbangtang, tobacco smoke contains nicotine, which he said constricts the blood vessels that carry blood to the legs, arms, stomach or kidneys, resulting in decreased blood flow in those parts.