In brief: “Most smokers are aware of the danger of smoking cigarettes but they still smoke because they get addicted. The healths dangers involved in smoking cigarettes are extensive. Yet, according to the latest reports, smoking is the single most preventable cause-of-death worldwide.”
“A cigarette is the only consumer product which when used as directed kills its consumer..” Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland
Why Is Smoking Bad for Your Health – Risks of smoking cigarettes
Cigarettes contain an addictive substance called nicotine which is inhaled by the person, then reaches the bloodstream and is circulated throughout the person’s body.
This chemical causes huge damage to different parts of the human body. There are several health risks and dangers of smoking cigarettes:
1. Cancer – Smoking can cause cancer of the mouth, bladder, kidney, esophagus and blood. Smoking is responsible for about 30% of all cancer related deaths. About 95% (!) of the lung cancer related deaths are due to smoking cigarettes. Also lung cancer is the number 1 killer among women smokers. Their risk of getting cervical cancer is also doubled.
2. Lung disease - Smoking is the main cause of 80% of lung related diseases. It causes emphysema and bronchitis’s where the bronchial tube of the person becomes inflamed or irritated. It produces too much mucous, which blocks the tube and causes coughing problem to the smoker. Emphysema is the disease which has no cure. In it the small air sacs in the lung are destroyed and the person has difficulty in breathing. A person who has this disease gets tired very easily as he uses most of his energy to breathe. This disease gets worse with time as there is no cure for emphysema.
3. Other health problems – Smoking increases the risk of getting many other health problems including diabetes and Osteoporosis. This is a disease which speeds up the loss of bone and the bone gets weak and thin. There is also a greater chance of getting stomach ulcer with smoking. These ulcers are very painful and cause bleeding in the stomach. It is seen that people have developed full blown AIDS from being HIV positive twice as likely with smoking.
4. Peripheral Vascular disease (PVD) – Smoking increases the chance of getting PVD disease. This is the disease of the artery where the arms and legs keep getting narrower. Due to it, the oxygen rich blood does not reach properly to these limbs and causes pain. It also reduces the immunity of the body to fight off infection. The person may get gangrene where the arteries get close and no blood is passed to the limb. Eventually one may have to amputate the limb.
5. Stroke - With stroke, a person may not talk or/and move any part of his body. Smoking increases the chance of stroke among persons. It happens because enough oxygen does not go to the brain.
Therefore, health dangers of cigarettes smoking are huge.
In addition, most of the diseases caused by smoking are so severe that there are no known treatments yet for these diseases.
