a) Background B lood pressure refers to the pressure inside the arteries. Hypertension means that the blood is exerting more pressure than in normal. Over time, this weakens and damages blood vessel walls. Hypertension may also cause thickening of the artery walls, resulting in narrowing and eventual blockage of the vessel. In atherosclerosis, the pressure of pumping blood could ‘hose off’ debris from damaged artery walls.1 Smoking has been shown to raise blood pressure by vasoconstriction and accelerated heart rate as acute effect.2 Different groups have reported that no association existed between smoking habit and blood pressure.3 One group found that blood pressure of smokers was lower than that of non-smokers 4 or that smoking raises blood pressure.5 However, in one study, s