Everyone knows tobacco smoking is
harmful. However, not everyone understands why.
The tobacco burning in a cigarette,
cigar or pipe releases more than 4,000 different chemicals. The
smoke consists of various gases and particulates like nicotine,
water and tar. Tar, which contains numerous cancer-causing carcinogens,
is what remains of the smoke particles once the nicotine and water
have been removed from the burning tip.
This tar, and compounds like carbon
monoxide, are what’s dangerous. They greatly increase your
risk for a number of conditions that threaten your life and quality
of life. Here are some of the more common ones:
Heart attack. As you age, fatty
deposits cause your arteries — flexible vessels that carry
oxygen-containing blood to all parts of your body — to become
narrower and less supple. This process is known as atherosclerosis.
Smoking leads to premature atherosclerosis, which in turn can
lead to heart attacks and strokes.
If you’re a smoker in your
30s or 40s, you’re more likely to die of a heart attack
than cancer. And you’re five times more likely to die from
one than a non-smoker.
Stroke. If you’re a male smoker
between the ages of 35 and 64, your chance for a stroke is increased
almost four times. If you’re a woman, it’s nearly
five times.
Cancer. Smoking accounts directly
for about 30% of all cancer deaths in mature tobacco markets like
the U.S. In men, the proportion is currently around 40-50%. These
deaths are linked to the carcinogens in the smoke. Lung cancer
is almost entirely caused by smoking. Approximately 90-95% of
male deaths and 70-75% of female deaths from lung cancer are attributable
to the sufferers having smoked.
Lung diseases. Smoking weakens your
immune system, irritates the lining of your lungs and impairs
respiration. As a result, it’s the major cause of chronic
obstructive lung diseases like "smokers cough" and emphysema.
Birth complications. Babies born
to women who smoke average seven ounces lighter than those born
to non-smokers. And women who smoke while pregnant have a 33%
greater chance of losing their baby before or just after birth.
Smoking has also been linked to increased risk of spontaneous
abortion.
Other disorders. Smoking may also
increase the incidence and severity of everything from peptic
ulcers and impotence to cataracts and periodontal disease.
Finally, as a smoker, you hurt more
than yourself. Smoke inhaled by non-smokers increases their risk
of lung cancer. This secondary smoke especially harms children,
greatly increasing their incidences of asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis
and colds.
HOW
SMOKING AFFECTS YOUR BODY
