No one needs to tell you that smoking is bad for you. We all know that. Sometimes, though, it’s good to take a step back and look at how smoking cigarettes affects our bodies. Smoking can harm just about every one of your organs and it is associated with nearly one in five deaths in the US each year. Let’s take a look at the dangers of smoking and its effect on your body.
Smoking and your immune system
Smoking compromises the immune system, making smokers more likely to have respiratory infections and auto-immune diseases like Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
Smoking and your bones
Smoking increases your risk for osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become weak and more likely to break. While recent studies show a direct correlation between tobacco use and decreased bone density, there is good news: Quitting smoking appears to reduce the risk for low bone mass and fractures
Smoking and your heart
Tobacco smoke contains a host of harmful chemicals, which damage the ability of your heart to function properly. These chemicals also harm your blood cells. Together, this damage increases your risk for many diseases, including:
Atherosclerosis (a disease in which plaque builds up in your arteries) Aneurysms (bulging blood vessels that can burst and cause death) Cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes:
- Coronary heart disease (CHD)
- Heart attack and damage to your arteries
- Heart-related chest pain
- High blood pressure
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) Stroke
Smoking and your lungs
Smoking cigarettes actually scars your lungs and damages your breathing. It also causes a wealth of respiratory-related issues.
Smoking and your eyesight
Not surprisingly, smoking is as bad for your eyes as it is for the rest of you. As a smoker, you’re at greater risk for diseases that can lead to blindness, including cataracts, optic nerve damage and age-related macular degeneration
Cigarettes and Cancer
About 70 of the more than 7,000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke are known to cause cancer. Since smoking affects your entire body, it follows that smoking can cause a wide range of cancers, in various parts of your body including:
- Lungs
- Trachea
- Bronchus
- Esophagus
- Oral Cavity
- Lips
- Nasopharynx
- Nasal cavity
- Larynx
- Stomach
- Bladder
- Pancreas
- Kidney
- Liver
- Uterine Cervix
- Colon
- Rectum
Smoking is also known to cause leukemia
