Watch this video first - it will make you want to quit smoking immediately
The effects of cigarettes smoking for as little as five years can have a major detrimental impact on your
lungs, your heart, your eyes, your throat, your urinary tract, your digestive organs, and also your extremities and joints - - basically your
entire body.
Your main health risks in smoking cigarettes are diseases of your cardiovascular system. Folks who smoke greatly increase their risk of
heart attack, diseases of their respiratory tract such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, asthma, and cancer of the lungs and
elsewhere. Smoking affects your whole body and causes these and many other serious health problems.
Although you will find a health warning on the outside of a cigarette pack, this warning is only a small glimpse of the many effects of
cigarettes smoking and the bad problems which will develop for smokers.
Below we've provided a list of the damaging effects of cigarettes smoking. Although this list is not all inclusive, it will give you an
insight into the dangers of continuing to smoke cigarettes.
Some Effects of Cigarettes Smoking
The effects of cigarettes smoking on people make it 10 times as likely for them to develop a peripheral vascular disease as
non-smokers.
Folks who smoke cigarettes have a 25% higher risk of developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Approximately over 30% of all cancers are linked to the use of tobacco and 90% of lung cancer cases are directly linked to smoking.
People who smoke find they will have an 8 to 10 times greater risk of developing cancer of the esophagus than non-smokers.
For males who smoke, the risk of developing laryngeal cancer is about 10 times greater than a non-smoker. For female smokers
the risk of developing the same cancer is 8 times greater than for non-smokers.
Folks who smoke cigarettes experience a significantly increased rate of leukemia and cancers of the bladder, stomach, kidneys, and
pancreas.
As many as 75% of people who smoke long-term develop changes in their patterns of DNA which can lead to pancreatic lesions as opposed to
only 3% of people who don't smoke.
Smokers experience a roughly 50% increase in the risk of developing stomach cancers compared to folks who never smoked.
Women who smoke experienced a twofold greater chance of developing cervical cancers than women non-smokers. It is estimated that up
to 30% of cervical cancer deaths in the US are related to cigarette smoking.
Smokers are twice as likely to die of a heart attack as are non-smokers.
Smokers experience up to 33% more angina then do non-smokers.
Among the smokers who are between the ages of 35 and 69, smoking is responsible for a threefold increase in their death rate.
It is estimated that approximately one half of all smokers that began smoking during adolescence will die of a smoking-related
illness.
Smokers of all ages are more likely than are non-smokers to experience pulmonary symptoms such as a chronic cough, wheezing,
shortness of breath, and phlegm production.
The effects of cigarettes smoking makes folks more susceptible to bacterial infections, respiratory infections, and inflammations of the
nose and throat.
Folks who smoke experience an increased incidence and more severe periodontal disease in addition to a higher incidence of tooth loss
then do non-smokers.
Smokers are more often found with a higher incidence of degenerative disorders as well as injuries to the spine.
Women who smoke experience a higher risk for hip fracture than folks who don't smoke.
Cigarette smoking results in people having more than double the number of multiple stresses and ankle sprains than non-smokers.
People who smoke have twice the risk of developing an eye disease called macular degeneration.
Infants born to smokers smokers were more than two times as likely to have low birth weight than infants born to non-smokers.
Children who live in a household with smokers are more likely to die from SIDS or sudden infant death syndrome.
Non-smokers who are routinely exposed to secondhand smoke experienced a 25% higher likelihood of developing heart disease.
Smokers tend to incur more costs for medical care, to see their doctors more often for outpatient care, and to be admitted to hospitals
more frequently and for longer periods than folks who don't smoke.
People who smoke find they are at greater risk for complications after surgery including postoperative pneumonia, lung infections,
and other complications of the respiratory system.
Smokers experience more acute illnesses and chronic illnesses than people who do not smoke and also experience more missed school and
work days due to these illnesses.
People who smoke tend to look older than people who don't smoke and find they develop more wrinkles that are also deeper as they
age.
Cigarette smokers have hair, breath, and clothes that smell like stale cigarette smoke.
If you or a loved one are considering kicking your nicotine addiction and quitting smoking, consider the effects of cigarettes smoking we just
listed above. You may even want to print this page out and read it every morning.
