Smoking & Diseases

A visitor from another planet might well wonder why so many millions of people are addicted to an expensive habit---smoking--that offers no health benefits whatsoever, yet can lead to everything from bleeding gums to death. Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds; 200 of these are poisons and at least 60 are known to be cancer-causing. The list of cigarette-related diseases is formidable, yet the nicotine habit is as addictive as that of any illegal drug.

Cancer

• Smoking as a cause of lung cancer has been known for more than 40 years; the first surgeon general's report on smoking and health was issued in 1964. According to the American Cancer Society, tobacco is responsible for 87 percent of all cases of lung cancer. Cigarette smoke, cigar smoke and second-hand smoke are all guilty. A 2004 report from Surgeon General Richard Carmona linked smoking to acute myeloid leukemia as well as to stomach cancer, kidney cancer, cervical cancer and pancreatic cancer. Smoking has also been linked to cancer of the esophagus, cancer of the larynx (voice box), bladder cancer, colon cancer and mouth and throat cancers.

Respiratory Disease

• Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are two different diseases of the lungs, often coupled under the title chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These ailments severely restrict the patient's breathing by narrowing the airways in the lungs or by damaging the air sacs in the lungs. In emphysema, the air sacs are permanently damaged, restricting the patient's ability to inhale and exhale. In chronic bronchitis, the airways become inflamed through exposure to an irritant such as cigarette smoke.

  Asthma is another chronic lung disease that causes difficulty in breathing due to constriction of the airways, and it can be fatal. Exposure to cigarette smoke can trigger asthmatic episodes.

  While COPD diseases and asthma are chronic and irreversible, smokers are also at risk for more frequent and more dangerous cases of pneumonia and influenza. Smoking can also worsen cases of tuberculosis.

Heart Disease

• The leading cause of death in the United States is heart disease. Heart disease and cardiovascular disease are also smoking related. Cigarette smokers are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease. Cigarette smoke aggravates risk factors for heart disease. The nicotine in cigarettes decreases the amount of oxygen sent to the heart while increasing blood pressure, heart rate and blood clotting.

  A smoker who has hypertension can be at risk for a particularly dangerous form of high blood pressure called malignant hypertension. Smokers are at increased risk for heart attack and atherosclerosis, in which substances like cholesterol collect on the lining of artery walls and impede blood flow. Smoking also doubles a person's risk for stroke and increases the risk for peripheral vascular disease and abdominal aortic aneurysm

Digestive Diseases

• Smokers are also at risk for a variety of digestive diseases including heartburn, peptic ulcers, liver disease and Crohn's disease. When a person has heartburn, stomach acid flows into the esophagus, damaging the esophagus lining. Smoking weakens the sphincter that allows this flow. Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop peptic ulcers, a sore on the lining of the stomach or on the duodenum. Liver disease can develop from overuse of alcohol and can be worsened by tobacco use. Crohn's disease, a swelling in the lining of the intestine, causes pain and diarrhea and appears to have a higher than usual occurrence among people who presently or formerly smoked

Other Diseases

• Smoking has been associated with vision problems including cataracts and macular degeneration. It has also been linked to periodontal disease of the gums. Periodontal disease itself is suspected to increase the patient's risk of developing a number of other medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, lung infections and respiratory diseases.