Smoking is a highly addictive but dangerous habit. It causes long-term negative effects like increasing the risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Chewed and smoked tobacco has unsafe substances, including acetone, tar, and nicotine.
Effects of smoking on the body
Smoking is a habit that has negative effects on most major organs in the body. It increases mental health problems and increases the risk of brain cancer. It can also lead to loss of vision. Smoking can also cause heart disease and complications. Other conditions that can be exacerbated by smoking include:
Gum disease
Stroke
Psoriasis
Lung damage and lung cancer
Osteoporosis
Fertility problems
Delayed healing
Pregnancy problems leading to premature birth and underdevelopment of foetuses
There is no safe way to smoke. Cigars, pipes, filtered cigarettes, hookah bongs, and e-cigarettes also cause problems. Smoking also causes DNA damage and premature ageing,
What’s in a cigarette
According to Lung.org, there are 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When you smoke, you expose yourself to 7000 chemicals, 69 of which are carcinogenic. The most dangerous chemicals in a cigarette are carbon monoxide, tar, and nicotine.
Cancer Research UK states the effects of these chemicals in the body. Carbon monoxide is a gas that’s released by combustion. This is a problem when it comes to cars and factories. Carbon monoxide is an odourless, tasteless gas that prevents the blood from carrying enough oxygen. This affects organ function and makes the heart work harder to ensure the body has enough oxygen to function. This is what increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Tar is a sticky brown substance that settles on the lungs when you smoke. It also stains teeth and nails if you smoke frequently enough. It increases the risk of emphysema—a condition that causes damage to the air sacs, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), where you develop breathing problems because of restricted airflow.
Nicotine is an addictive substance and the active agent in cigarettes that creates an altered state. It increases blood pressure and adrenalin. However, the amount of nicotine you get from one cigarette is minimal which leads to chain smoking. Nicotine addiction is highly dangerous and leads to an increased risk of heart attacks. This is because, according to the American Heart Association, it leads to narrowed arteries.
Other chemicals found in cigarettes that can lead to increased cancer risk are 1,3-butadene, arsenic, benzene, cadmium, chromium VI, formaldehyde, and polonium-210. They increase the risk of blood, lung, kidney, and prostate cancer.
Why it’s important to quit smoking
When you’re a smoker, you can reverse the effects of smoking by quitting. Research shows the effects of smoking can be reversed as soon as 20 minutes after you quit. Blood pressure and heart rate will return to normal levels. In addition, the fibres in the lungs that were affected by tar deposits start moving properly again which reduces the risks of lung infections. Carbon monoxide levels in the blood start dropping 8 hours after you stop smoking.
Nerve endings also regrow which improves smell and taste. When you have been off cigarettes for up to 48 hours, you find breathing easier. It is less strenuous to climb stairs or walk for long distances. Within two weeks, your lungs improve their capacity by 30%. Because of improved circulation and blood oxygenation, working out doesn’t feel as exhausting as before.
Quitting for three months improves fertility and reduces the risk of giving birth prematurely. After six months, you no longer crave cigarettes. You can handle stress without wanting a cigarette. You no longer feel any congestion and don’t cough often.
More importantly, you need to quit for at least three years to reduce the risk of heart disease by 50%. Quitting for five years reduces the chance of stroke and ten years reduces the risk of lung cancer to near zero.
It’s also important to quit because of the risks of second-hand smoke. It’s a huge risk for children. Nonsmokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at high risk of developing heart disease. If they have pre-existing heart conditions, they’re more likely to get a heart attack. Smoking leads to premature deaths from heart disease and lung cancer for smokers and nonsmokers.
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Why is it hard to quit smoking?
Nicotine is a very addictive substance. Weaning yourself off tobacco leads to withdrawal symptoms like headaches, irritability, anxiety, and digestive issues. Menthol or mint cigarettes are especially dangerous because they mask the bitterness of tobacco smoke. It’s harder for menthol smokers to quit because of this masking. It makes it easier to smoke more cigarettes at a go.
Menthol smokers find it harder to quit than nonmenthol smokers because tobacco smoke is easier to handle for them. Menthol desensitizes receptors making smoke less harsh. It also reduces nicotine metabolization which increases exposure and, subsequently, addiction. As a result, menthol cigarettes are banned in Canada, the EU, and Massachusetts and California in the US.
When you quit smoking, you may decide to go cold turkey. The withdrawal symptoms of nicotine make it harder. It’s also difficult because smoking becomes a crutch. Whenever you feel agitated, bored, anxious, or irritated, you want to reach for a cigarette. Unlike drinking or other narcotics that cause altered states, smoking is a habit that can be done at all times of day and you can remain functional. Your company is also more likely to give you a smoke break but you can’t take the time to take a shot of vodka before a stressful presentation. It’s important to find a way to quit that is more likely to succeed. Taking longer breaks between a cigarette until you completely stop is also more likely to help you quit long-term than just stopping.
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You can also:
Join support groups
Use a habit tracker to encourage yourself
Use nicotine replacement therapy—getting nicotine from gum or patches
Find alternatives to your smoking triggers like chewing regular gum or taking a walk
Exercise
Keep a diary
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Should you vape instead?
Many smokers opt for vaping thinking it’s a safer way to get nicotine. However, it can still cause lung damage. Vapes are just as addictive as cigarettes. The nicotine from vapes can cause the same problems such as lung disease and narrowed blood vessels. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, vapes may be more dangerous than cigarettes because they contain chemicals that aren’t as heavily regulated as cigarettes. They can also contain dangerously high levels of nicotine compared to cigarettes. Because they release steam instead of smoke, you will vape more often than smoke and this creates an addiction risk higher than cigarettes. It’s better to rely on medically approved methods for quitting rather than trading one addiction for another. The Dangers Of Vaping
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