Health Effects of Smoking

Everyone of us are well acquainted with the fact that cigarette smoking or use of tobacco in any form is detrimental to health. The smoke contains carbon monoxide, nicotine, cyanide and carcinogenic compounds, which collectively affect the body system. The medical signs may not be instantly manifested, but prolonged usage or exposure to nicotine causes irreversible health conditions. According to medical data, one out of every five deaths in the United States is caused by direct or indirect health effects of smoking cigarettes.

Health Effects of Smoking Cigarettes

Although smoking adversely affects the lungs and heart in general, there is hardly any organ that remains unaffected by smoking. The severity for side effects of smoking depends on two main factors - the dose of tobacco and time of exposure. Also, excess tar content in tobacco products increases the risk for causing smoking related health complications. People who do not smoke, but remain in vicinity to the smoking person are exposed to secondhand smoke. Such a case is called passive smoking and it causes health effects similar to active smoke under high concentration. Listed below are short-term and long-term health effects of smoking cigarettes.

Immediate Effects of Smoking
The short-term health effects of smoking are dizziness, nausea, bad breath, coated tongue and loss of appetite. Other serious signs include acne outbreaks, hand tremors, stomach acidity, high blood pressure and rapid heart rate. Most people overlook the immediate effects of smoking in the body, assuming them to be other health problems. With time, the body gets adjusted to nicotine and the acute conditions subside gradually.

Smoking and Lung Disease
Cigarette smoking directly affects the respiratory system, causing a number of breathing associated medical conditions. For a smoker, the elasticity of the small air sacs or alveoli is decreased in due course of time. As a consequence, the efficiency of respiration is reduced, leading to chronic cough, bronchitis, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Of all the deaths caused by chronic obstructive lung disease, 90 percent of the cases are resulted because of prolonged smoking.

Smoking and Heart Disease
The smoke containing hazardous substances gets deposited in the walls of the blood vessels, which overtime restricts the blood flow to the body parts. In short, smoking effects on heart and associated blood vessels impair the overall functioning of the cardiovascular system. The health effects of smoking cigars include heart diseases and cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke, heart attack, atherosclerosis and peripheral vascular disease.

Smoking and Cancer Incidences
Mention lung cancer and majority of the reported patients have the habit of cigarette smoking. In fact, 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men and 80 percent lung cancer deaths in women are caused by prolonged smoking. People who have a habit of chewing tobacco are at a higher risk to mouth cancer and throat cancer than others. Other smoking related cancers include acute myeloid leukemia, pancreas cancer, cervical cancer, bladder cancer and kidney cancer.

Smoking and Reproductive Health
Coming to effects of smoking during pregnancy, exposure to active smoke or secondhand smoke increases the risk for low birth weight, miscarriages, preterm birth, sudden infant death syndrome and stillbirth. In addition, the negative health effects of smoking cigarettes include infertility problems in both men and women. For a safe delivery, all pregnant women who have a habit of cigarette smoking should stop smoking. They can take the doctor's help in combating the nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

Other Effects of Smoking
In a case study done in smoking people and non smoking people, it is found that the former group has a higher risk of contacting influenza. Also, they manifest severe flu symptoms, as compared to people who do not smoke cigars. Doctors are of the opinion that the inhaled smoke causes structural damage and weakens the natural defense mechanism of the body. Thus, people who indulge in frequent smoking for a longer period are more prone to infectious diseases than others.

So, these were some of the major health effects of smoking cigarettes, which should not be overlooked by smokers. There is no doubt that nicotine is an addictive compound and smokers have a very difficult time in quitting smoking, even if they want to. But there are effective approaches for smoking cessation, which are specially purported to help people in achieving their goal towards a nicotine free life.