Hardened arteries and decreased blood flow are risks of long-term tobacco use.

• A. Hardened arteries and decreased blood flow
• B. Increased flexibility of arteries
• C. Faster blood flow
• D. No effect on arteries

Answer: (A)

Long-term tobacco use damages blood vessels by promoting atherosclerosis, where plaque builds up inside arteries. This makes the vessels stiff and narrower, reducing the space available for blood to flow and leading to decreased blood flow. Nicotine also raises heart rate and blood pressure, adding stress to the arteries, but the lasting vascular change is the reduced flow caused by narrowed, less flexible arteries. The described risk—hardened arteries with decreased blood flow—matches what smoking does to the cardiovascular system. The other ideas don’t fit: increased artery flexibility would be the opposite of what tobacco causes; faster blood flow isn’t the typical long-term result of smoking; and saying there’s no effect on arteries ignores the well-established vascular damage from tobacco.