Smoking and its effects on the body

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Before you think of smoking your daily sticks of cigarettes, read this article to find out how cigarettes can pose serious threats to your health.

Smoking has been an increasingly subject of debated topic in terms of smokers and their need to stop smoking. Smoking poses dangerous threats to health of smokers and non-smokers alike. Would you believe that more than 50 chemicals are identified in secondhand smoke found to cause cancer?

The chemicals in the cigarettes you smoke affect almost all the parts of the human body. Let’s take a tour of your body to look at how smoking affects it.

Starting at the Top

All smokers are at risk for cancer of the mouth. Tobacco smoke also causes gum disease, tooth decay and bad breath. The teeth become unsightly and yellow. Smokers may also experience frequent headaches. Smokers are also at risk of strokes due to a lack of oxygen and narrowed blood vessels to the brain.

Lungs and Bronchi

Moving down to your chest, smoke passes through the bronchi, or the breathing tubes. Hydrogen cyanide and other chemicals in the smoke attack the lining of the bronchi, inflaming them cause “chronic smoker’s cough”. Because the bronchi are weakened, you’re more likely to get bronchial infections. Your lungs are gradually impaired due to mucus secretion leading to chronic coughing. Smokers are 10 times more at risk to develop lung cancer and emphysema compared nonsmokers.

Smoking and the Heart

The devastating effects of smoking can also affect your heart. The blood pressure is elevated form the presence of nicotine that makes your blood clot easily. Oxygen levels are greatly lowered because of carbon monoxide and leads to the build up cholesterol deposits on the artery walls. The effects increase the risk of heart attack. Moreover, poor circulation resulting from cholesterol deposits can cause impotence (for men) strokes, and loss of circulation in fingers and toes.

Smoking and the organs of the body

The digestive system is not spared from the extensive effects of smoking. The tars found in cigarettes can trigger cancer of the esophagus and throat. Heartburn and ulcers can more likely to be developed due to the increased stomach acid secretion as a result of smoking. Smokers also have higher rates of deadly pancreatic cancer. The presence of carcinogens from cigarettes are excreted in the urine, consequently, causes bladder cancer.

Conclusion

Forty percent of men who are heavy smokers will die before they reach retirement age, compared to only 18 percent of nonsmokers. Women who smoke hold an increased risk of cervical cancer, while pregnant women who smoke take a chance with the health of their unborn babies.

The good news is that when you quit smoking your body begins to repair itself. In about ten years time after you quit, your body gradually repair most of the damage smoking caused. It’s better to quit smoking rather than wait until cancer or emphysema has set in. Chances are that these conditions are fatal. It’s another reason to take the big change and quit now.

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