Health Risks of Smoking

The effects of smoking can be seen on parts of the body than just lung cancer. The Center for Disease Control studies have shown that smokers are at risk for coronary heart disease and strokes at a rate of two to four times that of non-smokers. While lung cancer is most frequently associated with smoking, other lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also is associated with smoking.

Emphysema and damage to the airways and alveoli (small air sacs) of the lungs are can come from smoking.
Smoking may be a cause of bladder cancer, cancer of the cervix, esophagus, kidney, larynx (voice box) pharynx (throat) stomach and uterus. Any cancer is very damaging to the body and the treatment for cancers kill healthy cells along with the unhealthy ones. That should be a strong motivation for quitting smoking.

The health consequences from smoking are not only concerns about heart risk, but also high blood pressure and premature death. In men, smoking can lead to erectile dysfunction, which should be reason enough for men to do everything they can to quit smoking and not to start.

Smoking can lead to fertility problems in women. Women who smoke while they are pregnant not only hurt themselves, but hurt their unborn child as well. Babies of women who smoke are more likely to have a low birth rate than non-smoking pregnant women. Studies are still being performed to determine if infant death has any correlation to women who smoked while pregnant or smoke in the home around the baby.

Second Hand Smoke

Second hand smoke, or passive smoke, is just as harmful as if the person exposed to the smoke actually smoked a cigarette. This is why many cities throughout America have banned smoking in public places like restaurants, bars and office buildings. While some people may see that as intruding on a person’s right to smoke, the overriding health concerns of smoke and smoking outweigh those feelings.

There are those who say carbon monoxide is just as harmful as smoke, but until someone comes up with better alternatives for fuel, everyone has to live with that risk.

The long term benefits of quitting smoking should give the smoker a reason to quit. Better breathing, more restful sleep, more energy, and there are ways to control the weight many people worry about gaining when they quit. Food and drink taste better when a person stops smoking, so they may tend to eat more. Smoking is not popular like it used to be 30 years ago. Smokers have to almost sneak and smoke as it is viewed, unfairly, as a lack of will power.