Now I know that all of you smokers out there know darned well that smoking isn't good for you, so I'm not going to go on and on about the main problems that smoking can cause you, these things are already well documented, but I will say this; you can eat five portions of fruit and veg a day and exercise regularly, but healthy behaviour means little if you continue to smoke.
People have been very well aware for many years now of the main health problems brought on by smoking. But that said, here are a number of other health issues and facts that many people are simply not aware of:
What a lot of people don't realise is that just one cigarette contains more than 4000 chemical compounds and around 400 of those are actually toxins (poison, to put it plainly). When you inhale on your cigarette, the tip burns at 700 degrees centigrade, whilst the core has a heat of around 60 degrees. What happens here is that the heat breaks down the tobacco to make various toxins, which are then concentrated towards the butt. You receive the worst of the 'poison' as you finish your cigarette.
The most damaging products are:
1) Tar, a carcinogen that causes cancer
2) nicotine is addictive and increases cholesterol levels in your body
3) The oxygen in your body is reduced by carbon monoxide
Smoking causes differing levels of damage depending on:
1) The amount of cigarettes that you smoke
2) If the cigarette has a filter or not
3) In what way has the tobacco has been prepared
Although it is well known that smoking kills, what many smokers do not realise is that of the 300 people who die daily in the UK due to smoking, research has now shown that many of them are rather much younger than ever before.
It's almost unbelievable to say, but there are more people under the age of 70 who die from illnesses related to smoking, than of breast cancer, traffic accidents, drug addiction and AIDS combined.
I did promise not to preach, but I'm going to take a liberty here anyway (because it's my article!). The longer you have smoked, the more cigarettes in a day that you smoke and the more deeply you inhale, the more you will increase the likelihood of you developing lung cancer. When you do stop smoking, it can take as much as 15 years to get back to the risk level that a non smoker has.
Also if you smoke, the risk of contracting mouth cancer is four times higher than for a non-smoker. Cancer can start in many areas of the mouth, with the most common being on or underneath the tongue, or on the lips. Many smokers are not aware of the increased risk of getting these cancers. Smoking is the most common cause of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and is responsible for 80 per cent of cases.
A further illness affecting the lungs is emphysema, which 94 percent of a pack a day smokers have when their lungs are examined post mortem (when they're dead!). Compare that to a non smokers lungs of which 90 percent have little o none. Not too impressive huh!
When anyone ages, it is a natural process for their lung function to slowly reduce. However, for a smoker this can be as much as three times faster. Over years, you can expect to become more and more breathless, until needing constant oxygen, hospital care and then death due to slow suffocation...NOT GOOD.
And now one especially for the guys...did you know that smoking can affect your favourite person...yes, I am talking about mini-you! Men in their 30s and 40s can begin to suffer from erectile dysfunction because smoking can cause damage to blood vessels in various parts of your body. If the vessels are not functioning well in the penis, the blood cannot get there to do it's job. Nicotine narrows those arteries...that should give you something to think about!
This narrowing effect increases over time, so if you haven't got problems now, things could change later (and I'm not apologising for scaring you on that one)...in actual fact, erection problems in smokers may be an early warning signal that cigarettes are already damaging other areas of the body - such as the blood vessels that supply the heart.
If all this isn't enough for you, then I'm going to get down and dirty...it's guilt trip time. Did you know that the smoke that you do not inhale, the stuff that is released by your cigarette between puffs, carries an even higher risk than the smoke that you inhale. Think about what that means for your partner, kids, non smoking friends, etc,...
Children who grow up in a home where one or both of their parents smoke have twice the risk of getting asthma and asthmatic bronchitis. They also have a higher risk of developing allergies. Infants under two years old are more prone to severe respiratory infections and cot death.
Passive smoking has also been widely documented and the link between that and lung cancer is pretty well established, although the link between passive smoking and heart disease is not conclusive. What you can be sure of though, is that as a non smoker or an ex smoker, you can look forward towards a happier and healthier old age.
The message after all of this (and you must be a little bit interested if you're still with me) is that there are people around who care about you, and programmes out there that can help you to quit. So do it for you (and for me)...stop smoking now!
About the Author: Clare Innes has a number of health and fitness sites, including one dedicated to how to stop smoking. Watch out for more of her lifestyle sites in the 'First For...' series that is presently under development.
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