Health Effects of Smoking

Smoking has been the most common cause of death in the world today. Approximately five million people die of smoking every year with the toll reaching ten million by 2020. Despite the health effects, millions of people ignore its harms.

While thousands of children start smoking every day, many children and adults find it difficult to quit despite the effects it has on their health. This is because of the addiction to nicotine which causes strong symptoms if smoking is ignored. These include irritation, anxiety, sleep problems, headaches, coughing and loss of concentration. Let us read more about the health effects of smoking and what it could do to your health if ignored.

The damages done by smoking

How can smoking affect your health? Arteries carry blood away from the heart and to the rest of the body. When you smoke, the tobacco hardens the arteries and eventually becomes blocked. This causes the heart to receive reduced blood flow which brings the heart attack.

1) Lung damage

One of the health risks due to smoking is lung cancer which kills around 20,000 people in the UK alone every year. Studies have shown that men who smoke increase the chances of dying from cancer than women.

How to treat lung cancer:

Treating lung cancer is difficult but is in fact treatable. There are 5 common ways of treating cancers. These ways include:

Surgery

Radiography

Chemotherapy

Hormone Therapy

Biological Therapy

Surgery

The most common method of treating cancer is to take an operation. Dont be afraid if there is a chance of your doctor catching the disease because its not usual for cancer to spread to someone else through air contact. However, some of the side effects of having the operation include severe pain and tiredness.

To find out more about these treatments, click on ways to treat cancer

Other cancers are also possible from smoking and these include oral, liver, kidney, throat, pancreas, lip, bladder and stomach cancers. They are all life threatening.

2) The Harms on Children

You would probably think that smoking during your pregnancy would only cause problems to your health. This is wrong and should be stopped immediately before you suffer a miscarriage. Other problems to children include lower birth weight babies, slower child development such as intelligence and growth, sudden infant death, mental retardation and respiratory disorder. Children will also suffer from illnesses such as colds, flu, pneumonia and bronchitis.

There are many more health risks to your children due to the effects of smoking during pregnancy and around them. For more information regarding this matter, please check health effects of smoking on children.

3) What body parts are the most damaged by smoking?

The body parts most damaged by smoking are the heart and lungs. The damages to the lungs include some diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Smoking also permanently destroys the Alveoli which transfer oxygen into the bloodstream and the tiny Cilia cells which usually sweep out dirt particles from the lungs. After the tiny Cilia cells are destroyed, all the dirt particles from cigarette smoke builds up in the lungs over a period of time.

Damage to the heart includes coronary artery disease, decreases the ability to exercise longer, chances of blood clots, and lowers HDL cholesterol. High blood pressure occurs due to nicotine constricting the blood vessels and increasing heart rate which can force your heart to work harder.

Even though smoking has its problems on the heart and lungs, it also affects the whole circulatory system. Blood becomes thick and sticky becoming another hazard for the heart, hardening of the arteries because of damage to the blood vessels. Consequently, circulation to the hands and feet diminish and results in neuropathy and the failure to heal any infections.

4) Health Effects of Passive Smoking

Passive smoking is an even dangerous risk for non-smokers than those who smoke. Passive smoking is inhaling the smoke of those who are smoking around you. This in effect, causes you more harm than it does to them. For further information about passive smoking and its health effects, please check health effects of passive smoking.

Conclusion

Smoking has several health affects that have not been mentioned here. The limit to the health problems associated with smoking is beyond thought. You need to realise that its time you quit smoking before the harms eventually capture you. To quit smoking, please check how to quit smoking.

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