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Effects of Smoking


Effects of Smoking

The harmful effects of smoking on the body and overall health of smokers presented in the list below, only begins to convey some of the short and long term side effects of smoking cigarettes.
Quitting makes sense for many reasons but simply put: smoking kills and the effects of second hand smoke are also bad for the health of those around you.

Harmful Health Effects of Smoking

  • Every year hundreds of thousands of people around the world die from diseases caused by smoking cigarettes - Smoking KILLS.
  • One in two lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will occur in middle age.
  • Tobacco smoke also contributes to a number of cancers.
  • The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart and blood vessels.
  • This can cause heart attacks and stroke. It slows your blood flow, cutting off oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having their limbs
    amputated
    .
  • Tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 g) of tar in a year.
  • Changing to low-tar cigarettes does not help because smokers usually take deeper puffs and hold the smoke in for longer, dragging the tar deeper into their lungs.
  • Carbon monoxide robs your muscles, brain and body tissue of oxygen, making your whole body and especially your heart work harder. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
  • Smoking causes disease and is a slow way to die. The strain of smoking effects on the body often causes years of suffering.
  • Emphysema for example is an illness that slowly rots your lungs. People with emphysema often get bronchitis again and again, and suffer lung and heart failure.
  • Lung cancer from smoking is caused by the tar in tobacco smoke.
  • Men who smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers.
  • Heart disease and strokes are also more common among smokers than non-smokers.
  • Smoking causes fat deposits to narrow and block blood vessels which leads to heart attack.
  • Smoking causes around one in five deaths from heart disease.
  • In younger people, three out of four deaths from heart disease are due to smoking
  • Cigarette smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of low birth weight, prematurity, spontaneous abortion, and perinatal mortality in humans, which has been referred to as the fetal tobacco syndrome.

Tobacco smoke contains dangerous chemicals


The most damaging compounds in tobacco smoke include:
  • Tar – this is the collective term for all the various particles suspended in tobacco smoke. The particles contain chemicals including several cancer-causing substances. Tar is sticky and brown, and stains teeth, fingernails and lung tissue. Tar contains the carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene that is known to trigger tumour development (cancer).
  • Carbon monoxide – this odourless gas is fatal in large doses because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood. Each red blood cell contains a protein called haemoglobin – oxygen molecules are transported around the body by binding to, or hanging onto, this protein. However, carbon monoxide binds to haemoglobin better than oxygen. This means that less oxygen reaches the brain, heart, muscles and other organs.
  • Hydrogen cyanide – the lungs contain tiny hairs (cilia) that help to clean the lungs by moving foreign substances out. Hydrogen cyanide stops this lung clearance system from working properly, which means the poisonous chemicals in tobacco smoke can build up inside the lungs. Other chemicals in smoke that damage the lungs include hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, organic acids, phenols and oxidising agents.
  • Free radicals – these highly reactive chemicals can damage the heart muscles and blood vessels. They react with cholesterol, leading to the build-up of fatty material on artery walls. Their actions lead to heart disease, stroke and blood vessel disease.
  • Metals – tobacco smoke contains dangerous metals including arsenic, cadmium and lead. Several of these metals are carcinogenic.
  • Radioactive compounds – tobacco smoke contains radioactive compounds, which are known to be carcinogenic.

Effects of smoking on the respiratory system


The effects of tobacco smoke on the respiratory system include:
  • Irritation of the trachea (windpipe) and larynx (voice box)
  • Reduced lung function and breathlessness due to swelling and narrowing of the lung airways and excess mucus in the lung passages
  • Impairment of the lungs’ clearance system, leading to the build-up of poisonous substances, which results in lung irritation and damage
  • Increased risk of lung infection and symptoms such as coughing and wheezing
  • Permanent damage to the air sacs of the lungs.

Effects of smoking on the circulatory system


The effects of tobacco smoke on the circulatory system include:
  • Raised blood pressure and heart rate
  • Constriction (tightening) of blood vessels in the skin, resulting in a drop in skin temperature
  • Less oxygen carried by the blood
  • Stickier blood, which is more prone to clotting
  • Damage to the lining of the arteries, which is thought to be a contributing factor to atherosclerosis (the build-up of fatty deposits on the artery walls)
  • Reduced blood flow to extremities like fingers and toes
  • Increased risk of stroke and heart attack due to blockages of the blood supply.

Effects of smoking on the immune system


The effects of tobacco smoke on the immune system include:
  • The immune system doesn’t work as well
  • The person is more prone to infections such as pneumonia and influenza
  • Illnesses are more severe and it takes longer to get over them.
  • Lower levels of protective antioxidants (such as Vitamin C), in the blood.

Effects of smoking on the musculoskeletal system


The effects of tobacco smoke on the musculoskeletal system include:
  • Tightening of certain muscles
  • Reduced bone density.

Other effects of smoking on the body


Other effects of tobacco smoke on the body include:
  • Irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines
  • Increased risk of painful ulcers along the digestive tract
  • Reduced ability to smell and taste
  • Premature wrinkling of the skin
  • Higher risk of blindness
  • Gum disease (periodontitis).

Effects of smoking on the male body


The specific effects of tobacco smoke on the male body include:
  • Lower sperm count
  • Higher percentage of deformed sperm
  • Genetic damage to sperm
  • Impotence, which may be due to the effects of smoking on blood flow and damage to the blood vessels of the penis.

Effects of smoking on the female body


The specific effects of tobacco smoke on the female body include:
  • Reduced fertility
  • Menstrual cycle irregularities or absence of menstruation
  • Menopause reached one or two years earlier
  • Increased risk of cancer of the cervix
  • Greatly increased risk of stroke and heart attack if the smoker is aged over 35 years and taking the oral contraceptive pill.

Effects of smoking on the unborn baby


The effects of maternal smoking on an unborn baby include:
  • Increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and premature birth
  • Low birth weight, which may have a lasting effect of the growth and development of children. Low birth weight is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, being overweight and diabetes in adulthood
  • Increased risk of cleft palate and cleft lip
  • Paternal smoking can also harm the fetus if the non-smoking mother is exposed to second-hand smoke.
If the mother or father continues to smoke during their baby’s first year of life, the child has an increased risk of ear infections, respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia and bronchitis, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and meningococcal disease.

Diseases caused by long-term smoking


A lifetime smoker is at high risk of developing a range of potentially lethal diseases, including:
  • Cancer of the lung, mouth, nose, voice box, tongue, nasal sinus, oesophagus, throat, pancreas, bone marrow (myeloid leukaemia), kidney, cervix, ovary, ureter, liver, bladder, bowel and stomach
  • Lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema
  • Coronary artery disease, heart disease, heart attack and stroke
  • Ulcers of the digestive system
  • Osteoporosis and hip fracture
  • Poor blood circulation in feet and hands, which can lead to pain and, in severe cases, gangrene and amputation.

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