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How Can Smoking Damage Your Health?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking causes more deaths every year than HIV, illegal-drug use, suicides, motor-vehicle collisions and murders combined. Though the adverse effects of smoking have now been well-documented, tobacco advertisements may downplay how harmful smoking can truly be. Knowing what could happen to your body if you smoke will help you to make a more educated decision on whether to begin or quit the habit.

  1. Cancer

    • Smoking is known to cause cancers of the mouth, bladder, pharynx, voice box, esophagus, kidney, cervix, lung, pancreas, stomach, according to a report by the surgeon general. Smoking has also been connected with cases of acute myeloid leukemia. Lung cancer is the most prevalent of cancers related to smoking. About 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men and about 80 percent in women are smoking-related. The rates of smoking-related cancers vary by racial and ethnic groups, but, according to a study by the American Public Health Association, they are typically highest in African-American men.

    Cardiovascular Disease

    • Heart disease, the most common cause of death in the United States, is linked with cigarette smoking. In fact, people who smoke cigarettes are two to four times more likely to have heart disease than people who do not smoke, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to heart disease, smoking cigarettes almost doubles a person's chances of having a stroke, it can cause a person to have an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and it can reduce a person's circulation by narrowing the arteries.

    Respiratory Disease

    • A person who smokes cigarettes is 10 times more likely to die from chronic obstructive lung disease than a person who does not smoke, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In fact, approximately 90 percent of all people who die from chronic obstructive lung diseases are smokers.

    Other Effects

    • People who smoke cigarettes may encounter reproductive issues including an increased chance of infertility, delivering a baby pre-term, having a stillbirth, delivering a baby with low birth weight, and having a baby succumb to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Post-menopausal women who smoke also generally have lower bone density than non-smoking women, meaning that older female smokers are more likely to have a hip fracture than women who never smoked.

    Warning Signs

    • Though some conditions go undetected until they are in advanced stages, being aware of some common warning signs will help you know when you should mention something to your doctor. If you develop a new cough or experience any change in your current cough, such as coughing up more mucus than usual or coughing up blood or if you have trouble breathing, become hoarse, start to wheeze, get headaches or chest pain, lose your appetite, lose weight, constantly develop respiratory infections or are feeling more fatigued than usual, these could be signs of lung cancer or other lung conditions.

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