Recently I told you about one of my friends who is just in his 20s and was admitted to hospital for severe heart attack. Can you imagine a young guy of 24 years old can suffer with heart attack? One of the major reasons behind this state was excessive smoking. Though he was not a chain smoker, but he used to smoke on daily basis. Smoking harms, almost every organ of the body, causing many diseases and affecting the health of smokers, in general. When I talked to him after his heart surgery, the first thing he told he will never smoke. Though he realized this situation little late but it is never too late to quit. Smoking may give you pleasure, but on the expense of your health and life. I would like to share the health risks associated with smoking:
Why smoking is harmful for health?
According Cleveland clinic cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals of varying toxicity including 43 known carcinogens. They work like poison for the body; few of them are discussed below:
Tar: Once inhaled, smoke condenses and about 70 per cent of the tar in the smoke is deposited in the smoker’s lungs.
Nicotine (insecticide/addictive drug): Nicotine is recognized as one of the most addictive substances known to man. When smoke is inhaled, nicotine reaches your brain in just six seconds.
Carbon Monoxide (car exhaust fumes): An odorless, tasteless and poisonous gas that makes it harder for red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body.
Hydrogen Cyanide (gas chamber poison): Extreme amounts of hydrogen cyanide may cause gasping, irregular heartbeats, seizures, fainting and even rapid death.
What are the major health risks of smoking?
According to the American Heart Association, cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the United States; accounting for 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths
According to Center for Disease control (CDC), cigarette smoking increases the risk for various diseases including:
Lung Cancer: The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 22 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes and about 12 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with non smokers, who have never smoked.
Heart Diseases: Cigarette smokers are 2–4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than nonsmokers
High Blood Pressure: Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels (arteries), thereby causing high blood pressure. Smokers are more than 10 times as likely as nonsmokers, to develop peripheral vascular disease.
Respiratory Health: About 90% of deaths from chronic obstructive lung diseases are attributable to cigarette smoking.
Smoking during pregnancy: Research has shown that smoking during pregnancy causes health problems for both mothers and babies, such as Pregnancy complications, Premature birth, Low-birth-weight infants, Stillbirth, Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Put others at risk: Environmental tobacco smoke (also called passive smoke or secondhand smoke) affects people who are frequently around smokers. The American Heart Association estimates that each year, about 37,000 to 40,000 people die from heart and blood vessel disease caused by other people’s smoke.
There is no second thought that smoking is extremely harmful for health. Despite of the fact people indulge in the habit and ruin their and others life. There are youngsters that start smoking as early as eight years of age. I would like to give message to my all readers, especially teens that smoking can be fatal for you, so don’t start smoking. If you are a smoker, there are various effective ways to quit smoking. In my next post I would like to focus on ways to quit smoking. Little bit of momentary pleasure can lead to loss of health and life.
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