The Damaging Effects Of Smoking On Health
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011The number one cause of death in smokers in America is heart disease. The turn of this century registered a staggering 1.69 million premature deaths worldwide due to diseases in the cardiovascular system caused by smoking. For lung cancer, mortality in smokers was 850,000, while chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD claimed 118,000.
The heart suffers badly from this habit. Cigarette smoking contributes to or is the primary cause of a multitude of dreaded and deadly diseases. The harmful effects of smoking are due to its roughly four thousand chemical compound ingredients, two hundred of which are known poisons and more than sixty of which are known carcinogens.
Virtually no body part is left untouched by the cigarette’s destructive effects. The smoke and tar cause discoloration, bad odor and stains on the hair, hands and teeth. As much as it makes the smoker smelly, it also decreases his own sense of smell and taste, thus reducing his capacity to enjoy the simple pleasures of smelling fragrances and the taste of good food. This will also take a toll on your wallet through health costs, so hopefully you started buying bars of gold a while back or youre probably feeling the pinch.
It is a leading cause of stroke, and causes nicotine addiction and damages chemical reactions in the brain. It causes cataracts and macular degeneration. It leads to thyroid diseases as well as Graves Disease.
It leads to premature aging and advanced wrinkling of the skin. It causes oral plaques, loose teeth and gum disease and makes a smoker prone to sore throats.
Poor circulation, cold fingers, general weakness, peripheral vascular disease, aneurysm, and heart attacks are all effects of smoking. It also causes a predisposition to Buerger Disease and gangrene.
COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, smoker’s cough, asthma, pneumonia, and shortness of breath are usually attributed to smoking. Smokers are also prone to colds, flu, and other respiratory problems. Tuberculosis is complicated by smoking.
In the abdominal area, one becomes prone to duodenal and stomach ulcers. In the bones, one becomes susceptible to hip and spine fractures, spinal degenerative disc disease, and osteoporosis.
The male and female reproduction functions are not spared either. In the male reproductive system, the form, motility and number of sperm cells are affected. Infertility and impotence are also common consequences. In females, smoking causes dysmenorrhea, early menopause, problems with conception, placental abruption, placenta previa, ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous miscarriage or abortion, premature membrane rupture, and premature birth.
As for the baby, complications include smaller size, stillborn, various birth defects, higher number of nicotine receptors in its brain, possible predisposition to anxiety disorders as an adult, and an increased probability of teenage smoking.
Overall, smoking impairs the immunity of the body, leaving it vulnerable to all kinds of infections and diseases. And the worst of these is cancer – of the kidneys, bladder, lungs, liver, pancreas, stomach, colon, esophagus, throat, larynx, mouth, lips, cervix, and of the white blood cells, also known as leukemia.
Dreadful as this list of smoking hazards may be, it is far from complete, as research uncovers more with each new discovery. More than half of all smokers die of smoking-related diseases and this also has a drag on economic productivity in the form of health care costs, a devalued dollar, and increased demand for Gold IRAS, silver 401k investments, and other safe assets. Worldwide, smoking claims a life every eight seconds. This is the legacy of smoking.