Lungs
Cigarette smoke attacks the lungs’ natural defenses and can completely paralyze the natural cleansing process. Excess mucus in the lungs will make you more susceptible to colds, flu, bronchitis, and other respiratory infections. Continued exposure can lead to lung cancer and lung diseases, including pneumonia and emphysema.
Cancer
Lung cancer is just one of the serious health risks caused by smoking. Smokers are also susceptible to cancers of the larynx, mouth, esophagus, bladder, pancreas, kidney and stomach.
Eyes
Smokers have a much higher risk of developing two major sight-threatening conditions. Macular degeneration can occur when the macula, the central part of the retina at the back of your eye, becomes scarred, robbing the person of central vision. Research also has shown that smokers are about 3 times more likely to develop cataracts, a gradual thickening that develops in the lens of the eye. Smoke can also cause serious irritation for those who wear soft contact lenses.
Nose & Throat
Irritating gases in cigarette smoke, such as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and others, can cause serious irritation to the sensitive membranes in the nose and throat. The results: a runny nose and the proverbial smoker’s cough. Continued exposure can produce abnormal thickening in the throat lining, a condition, when accompanied with cellular changes, has been linked to throat cancer.
Mouth
Stained yellow teeth, bad breath and an acute loss in your sense of taste are just some of the less serious consequences of smoking. Smoking as well as the use of spit tobacco or “chew” can also contribute to cancer of the lips, gums and throat.
Skin
Smoker’s have what is called a “smoker’s face.” Characterized by a grayish appearance of the skin and deep lines around the corners of the eyes and mouth, smoker’s face is caused by a lack of oxygen to the skin. These conditions occur because smoking constricts the blood vessels in the skin, making it more susceptible to wrinkling.
Male Reproductive System
The negative effects of smoking on the blood vessels leading to the male reproductive organs may mean men can experience erectile dysfunction or even impotency. Smoking can also affect fertility by decreasing sperm count and mobility.
Female Reproductive System
Smoking can result in fewer reproductive years and a sharp decline in fertility for women. Female smokers are three times more likely to be infertile and reach menopause one and three-quarter years earlier than nonsmokers.
Breast
Research is finding a connection between the risk of developing breast cancer and smoking.
Bones
Smokers have a higher risk of developing osteoporosis, a condition that involves bone thinning. The loss of bone tissue, more prevalent among women, can result in an increase of bone fractures.
Blood
The carbon monoxide inhaled with each drag on a cigarette can stay in the bloodstream for up to six hours. Once in the bloodstream, it begins attacking the red blood cells, virtually replacing the oxygen your body needs to function. The process means less oxygen reaches the brain and other vital organs.
Digestive System
Smokers are at greater risk of developing peptic ulcers, Crohn’s disease and gallstones and can experience chronic heartburn. Smoking also affects the way the liver operates, particularly in terms of how it processes alcohol.
Secondhand Smoke
- Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. The mixture contains more than 4000 substances, some of which are known to cause cancer.
- Secondhand smoke has been classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a know cause of lung cancer in humans (Group A Carcinogen).
- Secondhand smoke is known to cause lung cancer deaths in nonsmokers.
- Being around secondhand smoke causes irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat.
- Secondhand smoke also irritates the lungs. This can lead to coughing, excess phlegm, chest discomfort, and difficulty in breathing.
- Those most affected by secondhand smoke are children because their bodies are still developing. Exposure to the posons in secondhand smoke puts children in danger of severe respiratory diseases and can hinder the growth of their lungs. The effects can last a lifetime.
- Ventilation systems in homes cannot filter and circulate air well enough to eliminate secondhand smoke. Blowing smoke away from children, going into another room to smoke, or opening a window may help reduce children’s exposure but will not protect them from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Nicotine
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive, as addictive as other drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. Over the course of a smoker’s life, their body becomes physically and psychologically dependent on nicotine. Studies have shown that smokers must overcome both of these dependencies in order to quit and stay quit.
When smoke is inhaled into the body, nicotine is carried deep into the lungs where it is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and carried to the heart, brain, liver, and spleen. Nicotine also affects many other parts of the body, including the heart and blood vessels, the hormonal system and the body’s metabolism. Nicotine can be found in breast milk and in cervix mucous secretions of smokers. During pregnancy, nicotine freely crosses the placenta and has been found in the amniotic fluid and the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants. Mainly the liver and lungs metabolize nicotine, but a small amount is excreted by the kidneys. Nicotine is broken down by the body in to the by-products cotinine and nicotine-N’-oxide. In general, a regular smoker will have nicotine or cotinine present in the body for about three to four days.
Nicotine produces pleasurable feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more and also acts as a depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. As the nervous system adapts to nicotine, smokers tend to increase the number of cigarettes they smoke, and hence the amount of nicotine in their blood. After a while, the smoker develops a tolerance to the drug, which leads to an increase in smoking over time. Eventually, the smoker reaches a certain nicotine level and then smokes to maintain this level of nicotine.
The longer someone smokes, the higher the dependency on nicotine, and the more difficult it becomes for the smoker to quit. When smokers first attempt to cut back the amount of cigarettes they are smoking, the initial absence of nicotine in their bloodstream leads to withdrawal symptoms that often kick the smoker back to smoking.
In large amounts, nicotine acts like a poison. Nicotine has been used to kill insects. Nicotine makes the heart beat faster, thus increasing the breathing rate and causing the body to use more oxygen. Nicotine causes other changes in the circulatory system too. Blood vessels narrow and the blood travels through them more slowly, which causes hypertension for many smokers. Nicotine also appears to increase the tendency of the blood to clot and has been linked to diseases of the blood vessels and heart.
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