How Does Cigarette Smoke Affect Growth?

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm doctor Savage. I'm here to describe how cigarette smoking affects growth. This goes down to the growth plates of someone who is developing. When there is cigarette smoke in the system, a number of things happen. Primarily the cause of why and the what is of how growth is stunted with exposure to cigarette smoke is that there is a decrease in blood flow to that bone and to that growth plate. This happens by the nicotine binding to smooth muscle receptors in the bloodstream causing you know, for example a blood vessel that's say this big, big exaggeration, and the muscle contracts and actually squeezes down. This ends up allowing less oxygen to get to those very important growth plates of the child and in turn causes stunting of growth. This is why its very important for teenagers who are still growing to absolutely avoid smoking cigarettes and if you're a parent of a child, to keep those cigarettes away from the children to prevent secondary smoke exposure and that also is a very good reason to actually quit smoking. If there are questions, talk to your primary care provider about this. I'm doctor Savage. I'm confident this has been informative. Here's to the best of health."