Smoking affects almost every part of your body. It damages you on the inside and ages you on the outside. And, when you light up, people around you are forced to smoke too - whether they want to or not.
About Tobacco Smoke
Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 known chemicals - arsenic, benzene, carbon monoxide, and pesticides, to name a few. At least 50 chemicals contained in cigarette smoke are known to cause cancer.
But there is just one chemical in that mix that makes smoking so very difficult to give up: nicotine. Experts agree that nicotine addiction is similar to an addiction to heroin or cocaine: it is one of the hardest addictions to break.
The average smoker inhales approximately 1-2 mg of nicotine per cigarette.
And it is the nicotine in cigarettes that keeps smokers “hooked”, all those other chemicals - thousands of them - do damage to your internal organs and even to your appearance.
How Smoking Hurts
Your body and its organs are kept alive and healthy by the oxygen you breathe in. When you add thousands of toxic chemicals to that intake, it is bound to hurt.
Smoking and the Heart
Cigarette smoke decreases the amount of oxygen our heart receives. It does this by mixing carbon monoxide and other gases into what we are inhaling. Our heart has to work harder to move oxygen through the body, and our heart rate goes up with the extra effort. Blood vessels and arteries become smaller as fat deposits associated with nicotine and carbon monoxide build up. That also limits the blood supply to the heart. This causes injury to the heart muscles. Damaged heart muscles are at greater risk for a heart attack.
Smoking and the Brain
Smokers have about a 50% greater chance of having a stroke than non-smokers. That is because smoking shrinks the blood vessels and interferes with the steady flow of blood to the brain. A stroke can be fatal or very damaging - resulting in paralysis or loss of speech.
Smoking and the Lungs
Your lungs move air in and out of your body. They take in oxygen and push out carbon dioxide. The oxygen is carried through a complex network of branching airways called bronchi, which lead to tiny air sacs. But cigarette smoke interrupts the flow of clean oxygen to the lungs and damages the way lungs get rid of harmful particles. This can lead to all sorts of lung-related problems: emphysema, bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, coughing and wheezing, and lung cancer.
In fact, cigarette smoking accounts for 85% of all new cases of lung cancer in Canada. And, of all cancers, lung cancer is the leading cause of death.
- Chronic bronchitis is the result of too much mucous in our lungs and problems absorbing oxygen. Symptoms include a constant cough and excessive phlegm. Smoking irritates the bronchial tubes in the lungs and results in the production of more mucous.
- Smoker’s cough is a chronic cough, particularly upon waking, as the lungs fight to clean themselves.
- Emphysema - which smokers are at a greater risk of developing with each day that they continue their habit - is a degenerative disease. Often called “lung rot”, it starts out first as simple shortness of breath. People in the early stages of emphysema might simply consider themselves out of shape as they struggle to climb stairs or lift heavy objects. The truth is that their habit has damaged their lungs - and, without taking steps to quit, simple breathing will, in time, become an effort. Nothing can be done to correct the damage caused by emphysema. But, stopping smoking can stop if from getting worse.
Smoking and the Eyes
Smoke does get in your eyes. And the chemicals in cigarette smoke get into the bloodstream and can damage the eyes. There is a membrane (a thin layer of tissue) covering the eye that can get irritated.
Smokers are also two to three times more likely to develop cataracts in their eyes than non-smokers.
Smokers - and people who are exposed to secondhand smoke - are also more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration. This is an eye disease that can result in partial or total blindness in older people. Vision lost as a result of macular degeneration cannot be restored. Only for a minority of people - those with a certain type of AMD - can its progress be halted.
Since smoking causes the blood vessels to shrink, it can also lead to an increase in eye pressure, damaging the optic nerve and possibly leading to another eye disease - glaucoma. Glaucoma cannot be reversed, only controlled with certain types of medication.
Smoking and the Skin
The skin is the body’s largest organ. A smoker’s skin is constantly in the line of fire.
- Skin cancer - One of the most common types of skin cancers - squamous cell carcinoma - is more likely to occur in smokers than in non-smokers. Doctors think smoking damages the DNA in skin tissue, producing abnormal cell growth and leading to cancer. A European study found that people who smoked 21 cigarettes a day, or more, were four times as likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma than non-smokers. People who only smoked one to 10 cigarettes a day were still 2.5 times more likely to develop skin cancer.
- Premature Aging - Smoking also speeds up the aging of the skin, and increases wrinkles. This can start showing up in young adults after just 10 years of smoking. Smoking causes narrowing of the tiny blood vessels in the skin, which reduces blood flow, making it thinner and less elastic. As well, all that puckering when you inhale and squinting when you exhale, over time, can add to facial wrinkling.
Research reported by the Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.com) shows that heavy smokers in their 40s looked more like non-smokers in their 60s. Studies of identical twins have found smokers to have thinner skin, more severe wrinkles and more gray hair than their non-smoking twins.
Smoking and the Mouth
Smoking stains your teeth and makes your breath smell bad. It also dries up your saliva, heats up your mouth and puts you at risk for cancer of the mouth, lips and throat. It can also lead to tooth decay and gum disease, which can make other parts of the body weaker.
Smoking and Other Major Organs
Smoking affects the digestive system, and can lead to cancer of the esophagus and throat. It increases the production of stomach acid, which can lead to heartburn and ulcers. Smokers have higher rates of pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms of cancer. High blood pressure from smoking can damage the kidneys and many of the carcinogens from cigarettes pass into the urine, which can lead to bladder cancer.
Studies indicate that smokers also have increased chances of developing cancer of the stomach, liver, renal pelvis, and ureter; as well as cancers of the vagina, cervix and anus. For more information from Health Canada on the risk of cancer due to tobacco smoking, and what studies have shown, please visit Health Canada’s website.
Other Physical Problems Related to Smoking
Impotence
Impotence is the inability of a man to maintain an erection in order to have sex. Impotence is twice as likely to occur in smokers than it is in non-smokers. Exposure to secondhand smoke is also a significant factor in becoming impotent.
Diabetes
New research shows a strong link between smoking and developing Type 2 diabetes. A recent review of 25 studies involving 1.2 million people aged 16 and older in the U.S., U.K., Europe, Japan and Israel showed that the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes was 44% higher for smokers than non-smokers. Even former smokers were more at risk of developing diabetes than people who had never smoked (23% more likely). Diabetics who want to slow down the advance of their disease are always advised to stop smoking. Studies also make a direct link between smoking and diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness in people who suffer from diabetes.
Secondhand Smoke
Scientific evidence gathered over the past 30 years shows that people exposed to tobacco smoke in the environment are more likely to develop and die from heart disease, lung cancer and other breathing problems. Smokers are therefore doubly exposed - to their own intake of cigarette smoke and that of others around them. Non-smokers are the innocent victims of other people’s decision to smoke.
Secondhand smoke can also lead to chest infections, ear infections, excessive coughing and throat irritation. Children, who breathe faster than adults, are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke. Parents who smoke increase the chance that their children will develop asthma by 200 to 400 per cent, according to Health Canada. Even pets are affected by secondhand smoke and, when exposed, are more likely to develop cancer and other health problems.
Special fans and ventilation systems are not very effective in removing smoke from the air. Most of the harmful bi-products of smoking are gases, and fans may even work to spread those gases into rooms where no one has been smoking. It can take many hours for the smoke of a single cigarette to clear.
Health Canada advises smokers to be especially careful around children, pregnant women and people who have heart or breathing problems. Try to make your home completely smoke-free, and don’t smoke in confined spaces, such as cars.
Smoking and Your Baby
Smoking during pregnancy is risky for both expectant mothers and their unborn babies. Nicotine increases the baby’s heartbeat. Some of the chemicals passed through the placenta are known to cause cancer. Smoking during pregnancy also increases the chances of a miscarriage.
It is safe to use nicotine replacement therapies - a patch, inhaler or gum - during pregnancy. For pregnant women who are trying to quit, it is preferable to use these aids than to continue smoking.
Smoking also complicates the process of childbirth. Smoking can reduce the baby’s birth weight. And during birth, there is an increased danger of complications and even stillbirth.
Although breast milk is always preferable to formula for newborns, nursing mothers who smoke can pass along harmful chemicals from cigarettes to their babies through their breast milk.
Babies of smokers tend to have more health problems, such as asthma and infections. And more than 18 per cent of all deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) are blamed on tobacco use by the mother. Smoking by either parent also affects a child’s growth and learning.
The Bottom Line
It is difficult to say anything good about smoking. If you smoke, try hard to quit - for the health and safety of yourself, your loved ones and people around you who care about your health and their own. And if you are trying to develop a plan to quit smoking, make use of the Canadian Cancer Society’s Smokers’ Helpline at 1-877-513-5333 or visit www.smokershelpline.ca.
Quitting Smoking - Making the First Move
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Life After Quit Day - Not Always Smooth!
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Smoking and Your Teenager
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Resources
Quitting Smoking - Making the First Move
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Life After Quit Day - Not Always Smooth!
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The Canadian Cancer Society’s Smokers’ Helpline
1-877-513-5333
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The Canadian Cancer Society
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The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto (CAMH)
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Smoke-Free Ontario
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Stupid.ca
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Cost of Smoking Calculator
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The Smoker’s Body
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Health Canada:
Tobacco Information Centre
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Smoking & Pregnancy
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Smoking and Your Body
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Smoking Diseases
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