The essence of smoker’s disease is that the blood vessels supplying the cerebral hemispheres, the internal carotid arteries, become occluded. When the internal carotid artery is occluded, the brain is in a state of ischemia, which stimulates the brain to grow many new small blood vessels, and these many small vessels look like smoke when an angiogram is done. Smoke disease causes two major problems: 1. Cerebral ischemia Although many new small blood vessels grow in the brain, the blood that these small vessels can supply is still not enough, so the patient has insufficient blood supply to the brain and often has headaches, no strength in the arms and legs, decreased mental ability, and sometimes severe sleep disturbances occur. As the disease progresses, the patient may also experience cerebral infarction. 2. Cerebral hemorrhage These new blood vessels are structurally imperfect and, combined with a heavy burden, they often rupture, leading to cerebral hemorrhage. Because the site of the hemorrhage is often important, the consequences can be severe, with paralysis, unclear speech, and other problems. Warm tip: Possible concomitant diseases of smog include renal artery stenosis hypertension, intracranial aneurysm, cerebrovascular malformation, primary pulmonary hypertension, periodic oblique neck and developmental disorders. Smoke disease is very dangerous, and if treatment is delayed, once a cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction occurs, it may lead to hemiplegia, disability, or in severe cases, life-threatening. Therefore, early detection and timely treatment are very important. When you notice headache and numbness, you may want to have an ultrasound of your head to check whether you are suffering from smog, so that it can be detected and treated early.