The Effects Of Cigarette Smoking

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Saturday, June 27th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Many people today are vaguely aware of the many dangers of smoking, from lung cancer to bronchitis. However, the real truth is that there are many, many parts of one’s body, many members of one’s family, and many aspects of one’s life that are hit hard by the effects of cigarette smoking.

Sure, we all know about lung cancer and bronchitis. But did you know that cigarette smoking is the number one contributor to heart attacks as well? Did you also know that many types of cancers are also thought to be caused by the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, including liver cancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the larynx, cancer of the throat, cancer of the mouth and tongue, esophageal cancer, cancer of the large intestine, and even cancer of the bloodstream?

Cigarettes are not just rolled tobacco, as many people innocently think. The tobacco industry purposely adds ingredients in order to increase tobacco’s addictiveness. There are approximately 4000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, many of them toxic. The ingredients in cigarettes affect everything from the internal functioning of organs to the efficiency of the body’s immune system. The effects of cigarette smoking are destructive and widespread, covering your entire body from head to toe.

Setting aside your own personal health, have you ever thought about the effects of cigarette smoking on your pocketbook? Someone who smokes a pack a day will wind up spending over $700 every year on cigarettes. That’s an entire month’s rent, two months worth of groceries, three or four car payments, or the cost of a very nice flat-screen television. Not to mention how that money could grow in a nice savings account!

The heart is also one of the major parts of the body that is not immune to the effects of smoking. Many heart attacks can be traced to smoking. Smoking blocks and weakens the arteries of the heart and constricts blood vessels, making the heart need to work harder just to do its job.

When thinking about the body’s mid-section, cancers of the esophagus, abdomen, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, and colon are all traced to the effects of smoking. The bones are also not immune to smoking’s effects. Osteoporosis, spine and hip fractures, and degenerative disc disease can be traced back to smoking. Infertility is another issue with heavy and chronic smokers, both male and female. Men can have lower sperm counts and decreased sperm motility, and women can have difficulty with ovulation when smoking.

As for the rest of the body, the effects of smoking are many, including blood diseases, decreased circulation to the feet and toes, and difficulty recovering from wounds. Really, when you think about it, there is not one place on the human body that does not suffer, and suffer greatly, from smoking’s effects. Really, is there any reason why it’s not time to quit smoking for good?

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