Cigarette smoking and kidney involvement

Cigarette smoking has adverse effects on health causing ischemic heart dise ase, stroke, chronic obstructive lung disease and cancers of the respirator y and upper digestive tract, pancreas, kidney and urinary tract. Smoking ca uses an acute increase in mean arterial pressure and heart rate mediated by catecholamines and beta-adrenergic mechanisms. Chronic cigarette smoking r educes renal plasma flow, probably increasing synthesis of the vasoconstric tor endothelin and reducing generation of the vasodilatory endothelial nitr ic oxide. There is clinical evidence that cigarette smoking has important a dverse effects on renal outcome in primary hypertension, diabetic nephropat hy, primary glomerular diseases, systemic diseases involving the kidney and in patients on chronic hemodialysis, or after renal transplantation.