Every year smoking kills more people then AIDS, traffic accidents, suicide, murder, fires and accidental poisoning combined. Considering all the harmful health effects of smoking, it’s hard to believe more people don’t try to stop.

What are the Short Term Effects?

Most people know the long term effects of smoking include lung cancer, emphysema, cardiovascular diseases and premature ageing. While these can be devastating many people don’t worry about them because they don’t seem like an immediate threat. It’s important to understand in the short term smoking cigarettes can be every bit as dangerous. The following are 6 of the most dangerous short term side effects of smoking:

• Increased blood pressure
• Increased heart rate
• Narrowing of the arteries
• Reduced amount of oxygen the blood can carry
• Carbon monoxide levels in the blood rise
• Creates an imbalance in the demand for oxygen by the cells

What Are Long Term Effects?

Here is a list of harmful health effects smoking can have throughout one’s life:

• Cancers
• Lung diseases
• Heart disease
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Stroke
• Osteoporosis and weakened bones
• Circulatory problems
• Ulcers
• Premature aging
• Damage to the fetus
• Low sperm count and impotence
• Spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)
• Decreased lung function
• Bronchitis
• Infections
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Let’s look at a few of these more closely:

Cancers

Most people are aware of the dangers of lung cancer, and according to the Surgeon General 90% of cases of lung cancer deaths in men are caused by smoking, and about 80% in women. Smoking is also the cause of the vast majority of cancers of the mouth, larynx, esophagus and bladder. It also causes cancers of the kidney, cervix, stomach and pancreas. 30% of all cancer deaths in the USA are caused by smoking.

Lung Diseases

Lung Damage Due To Smoking (healthy lung on left)

In addition to cancer, there are several other bad effects on the lungs. The Surgeon General has reported that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, mainly Bronchitis, pneumonia and emphysema, resulted in up to 118,000 deaths annually in the USA, 90% of which were attributable to smoking. Smokers of either sex were at least 12 times more likely to die of a pulmonary disease than non smokers.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Almost 35% of smoking related deaths are due to diseases of the arteries and heart. A smoker has 2 - 4 times the chance of developing chronic heart disease than a non-smoker. In fact, as a smoker, you are more likely to die from heart disease than from cancer.

Smoking and the Fetus

Smoking during pregnancy can be disastrous to the unborn baby. The carbon monoxide in a two pack a day habit restricts the oxygen supply to the developing fetus by 60%. This results in stunted growth and lack of development, and can even cause premature births and stillborn children.

Smoking and Children

It was already stated that pregnant women shouldn’t smoke. However, it should also be avoided throughout the child’s life. Chemicals from the mother can be passed to young babies while breastfeeding. Nicotine levels in breastfed babies among mothers who smoked have been found to be 10 times higher than from non-smoking mothers. Also, 80% of all smokers started when they were teenagers. While many times this is due to psychological issues such as peer pressure and self esteem, often times they develop the habit from mom and dad.

Sperm Count and Impotence

Several bodies have reported that smoking can reduce the sperm count, and also render men impotent. A report by the BBC in the UK has stated that smokers are twice as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction than non-smokers, and this has been confirmed by many medical bodies. Smoking causes atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries feeding the penis, and the nicotine also constricts the smaller blood vessels leading to impotence.

Premature Aging

The New Scientist has reported that a study in Nagoya City University in Japan has found that smoking leads to an increase in an enzyme that breaks down skin, and also a reduction of up to 40% in the production of the collagen needed to renew skin. The result is people start showing premature physical signs of aging of the skin and the excessive formation of wrinkles. In addition to these, more of your brain cells die the longer you smoke, and brain function can be reduced. You can also suffer strokes due to constrictions in the blood vessels supplying the brain.

Conclusion

Needless to say the effects of smoking and tobacco are disastrous. According to the American Heart Association, non-smokers live on average about 14 years longer than smokers. If you are a smoker and you want to live a longer, healthier life; you should seriously consider quitting as soon as possible.

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