How Smoking Affects the Body
Smoking affects the body by causing disease and illness, and promoting infection and injury. Both smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke can negatively impact health, and exposure to nicotine through the placenta can affect the bodies of unborn babies. While the full potential of how smoking affects the body is still being studied, it is known that at least half of all smokers will die from diseases caused by smoking.
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Significance
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Smoking affects all systems and organs in the body. Smoking is the main cause of heart disease and cancer and is responsible for one out of every five deaths in the United States. Smoking takes an average of 13 years off the life expectancy of smokers.
Time Frame
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Immediately after inhaling a puff from a cigarette or cigar, hundreds of chemicals enter the body, sixty of which are known carcinogens. Smoking decreases the amount of oxygen in the blood within minutes of inhaling. Smoking can cause changes to organs in the body over a long period of time. Diseases such as lung cancer may take up to thirty years to develop.
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Types
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Respiratory effects of smoking include chronic coughing, shortness of breath, emphysema, COPD, and lung cancer.
Smoking can affect the skin by causing wrinkles and yellowing along with yellowing of teeth and gum disease.
Smoking is a primary cause of heart disease including high blood pressure, poor circulation, heart attacks and stroke.
Reproductive effects of smoking include impotence, infertility, and increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and low birth-weight babies.
Effects
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Smoking causes susceptibility to infections and illnesses and increases the amount of time needed to heal after an injury. People who live with smokers may suffer from the effects of secondhand smoke, such as asthma, allergies, and increased risk of lung cancer.
Considerations
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Smoking affects people's bodies differently. Some smokers may suffer from multiple diseases caused by smoking, while others may never develop a smoking-related illness. The likelihood of developing a smoking related health problem increases with the amount and duration of smoking. Smokers who also drink alcohol are more likely to develop certain cancers. Family history and genetics also play a role in the health effects of smoking.
Prevention/Solution
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The health effects of smoking can be lessened by decreasing the number of cigarettes smoked. Because the nicotine in cigarettes is addictive, a slow decrease over time may reduce withdrawal symptoms. Over-the-counter and prescription products may also help lessen the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. The most effective way to prevent health effects from smoking is to quit smoking or never smoke at all.
Potential
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Not all of the possible health effects of smoking on the body are known at this time. Science has identified more than fifty known carcinogens in cigarette smoke, along with other poisonous chemicals, metals and tar. Future research into the chemicals in cigarette smoke may identify further health effects on the body.
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