The harm of smoking

You can eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day and exercise regularly, but your lifestyle will not be considered healthy if you continue to smoke.

You can often hear the phrase “Smoking is harmful to health,” but why exactly cigarettes are dangerous and what consequences they can cause will be discussed below.

How do cigarettes affect health?

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4 thousand chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic substances.

When you take a puff, the combustion temperature is 700°C at the end and about 60°C inside. This heat burns the tobacco to produce various toxins.

Combustion products that are the most dangerous:

  • tars, carcinogens (a substance that causes cancer),
  • Nicotine is addictive and increases cholesterol levels in your body
  • carbon monoxide reduces oxygen in the body
  • components of gas and particulate phases leads to the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

The damage caused by smoking depends on:

  • Number of cigarettes smoked
  • Availability of filter
  • Tobacco preparation

Major diseases caused by smoking

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death due to smoking.

Thickening of artery walls (arteriosclerosis) is a process that develops over years when cholesterol and other fats clog arteries, leaving them narrow, blocked or hard. When arteries narrow, blood clots form.

Smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing of the arteries, causing blood clots to appear earlier and two to four times more often.

Thrombosis of the coronary arteries. A blood clot in the arteries leading to the heart, which can lead to a heart attack. About 30 percent of such cases are caused by smoking.

Thrombosis of cerebral vessels. A blood clot in the brain can lead to collapse, stroke and paralysis.

If the renal arteries are affected, kidney failure or high blood pressure may occur.

Thrombosis of blood vessels in the legs can lead to gangrene or amputation.

Smokers are prone to developing coronary artery thrombosis ten years earlier than non-smokers.

Cancer

Smokers are more likely to get cancer than non-smokers. This is especially true for cases of cancer of the lungs, throat and mouth. For non-smokers, such diseases are rare.

The connection between lung cancer and smoking is obvious.

Ninety percent of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. Among people who have never smoked, only half a percent suffer from lung cancer. On average, approximately one in ten moderate smokers and one in five heavy smokers (more than a pack a day) will die from lung cancer.

The more cigarettes you smoke per day and the longer you smoke, the higher your risk of lung cancer. The risk also depends on the depth of smoke inhalation and the age at which you started smoking.

Smokers are four times more likely to develop oral cancer . Cancer can occur in different parts of the mouth, most commonly under the tongue or on the lips.

In addition, smokers are more likely to develop cancer of the bladder, esophagus, kidney, pancreas and cervix.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a collective term for a group of diseases of the respiratory system that block air flow and make breathing difficult:

Emphysema is shortness of breath caused by damage to the air formations in the lungs (alveoli).

Chronic bronchitis is a cough with a lot of mucus that lasts for at least three months.

Smoking causes COPD in 80 percent of cases.

It is believed that 94 percent of smokers have some form of emphysema, based on studies of the lungs after death. And 90 percent of non-smokers have little or no smoking.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease usually begins between 35 and 45 years of age, when lung function begins to decline.

In smokers, the rate of decline in lung function can be three times higher than normal. As a result of decreased lung function, shortness of breath begins.

Other risks caused by smoking:

  • Smoking increases blood pressure, which can cause hypertension - a risk of heart attack and stroke.
  • Couples who smoke are more likely to have fertility problems.
  • Smoking worsens asthma symptoms and counteracts its treatment by inflaming the airways.
  • The blood vessels in the eye are very sensitive and can be easily damaged by smoke, causing inflammation and itching.
  • Heavy smokers are twice as likely to develop macular degeneration, which leads to gradual loss of vision.
  • Smokers have an increased risk of developing cataracts.
  • Smoking causes yellowing of teeth and gums.
  • Smoking increases the risk of developing periodontal disease, which causes swollen gums, bad breath, and tooth loss.
  • Smoking causes a sour taste in the mouth and promotes the development of ulcers.
  • Smoking also affects your appearance - smokers have paler skin and more wrinkles. This is because smoking reduces blood flow to the skin and lowers vitamin A levels.

Smoking and impotence

For men in their thirties and forties, the risk of erectile dysfunction approximately doubles.

An erection cannot occur if blood does not flow normally to the organ, so these vessels must be in excellent condition.

Nicotine narrows the arteries leading to the penis, reducing blood flow and blood pressure in the penis.

This narrowing effect increases over time, so if you don’t have a problem now, it’s not a fact that you won’t have it a little later.

Erection problems may be a warning sign that smoking is already damaging other parts of the body, such as the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart.

There are many health-related reasons to quit smoking, not only for the health of smokers, but also for the protection of those around you.

Babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy are twice as likely to be born prematurely or at low birth weight.

Passive smoking

Smoke from a cigarette smoldering between puffs carries a greater risk than when smoking directly.

Children growing up in a home with smokers have a double chance of developing asthma or asthmatic bronchitis. And also higher rice allergies.

Children under two years of age are more prone to severe respiratory infections, resulting in death.

Everyone is free to choose between the fleeting pleasure of smoking and the reduced health risks associated with quitting the habit.

If you think that the harm caused by smoking to your health looms somewhere far away, or maybe will even pass, you are mistaken.

Be smart and refrain from smoking!

The decision to quit smoking is difficult, but inevitable if you want to be healthy and beautiful.

Information material prepared by:Svetlana Mikhailovna Stasevich, head of the obstetric observation department