What Are the Dangers of Cigarette Smoking?

Cigarette smoking is the top cause of death and disease that can be prevented. The tar, nicotine and other chemicals in cigarettes cause a number of health risks for smokers and everyone around them. Smokers can reduce their risk of chronic disease, look better, feel healthier, save money and live longer by quitting. Stopping smoking is the only way to avoid the dangers of cigarette smoking.

Arteries

• Atherosclerosis is a buildup of fat and plaque that keeps blood from flowing through arteries. This decreases the amount of oxygen that can get to parts of your body and can cause heart disease, stroke and muscle cramps.

Diabetes

• Smoking increases your risk of becoming diabetic. If you're already diabetic, smoking increases complications such as blindness, kidney disease, heart disease and stroke.

Lungs

• Smoking increases your chance of getting lung cancer and suffering from asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.

Heart

• Cigarette smoking lowers good (HDL) cholesterol, raises blood pressure and damages cells in the arteries of your heart, increasing the risk of having a heart attack.

Amputation

• Smoking causes blood clots that prevent oxygen from reaching blood vessels. When the tissue dies from a lack of oxygen, gangrene sets in and limbs may have to be amputated.