According to one study , smoking reduces immune function and causes inflammation in the body. This can lead to autoimmune conditions, including:. Smoking also has links with type 2 diabetes. It often takes many years before a person notices any symptoms of smoking-related lung disease.
This means that people may not receive a diagnosis until the disease is quite advanced. Smoking can impact the lungs in several ways. The primary reason is that smoking damages the airways and air sacs — known as alveoli — in the lungs.
Other lung diseases caused by smoking include pneumonia , asthma , and tuberculosis. Smoking irritates the gum tissues. The American Dental Association ADA state that smoking increases the risk of gum disease , which can add to halitosis. Smoking can also affect the reproductive system and fertility. Females who smoke can have more difficulty becoming pregnant. In males, smoking can cause impotence by damaging blood vessels in the penis. It can also damage sperm and affect sperm count.
According to some studies, males who smoke have a lower sperm count than those who do not. Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen that can reach the skin. This speeds up the aging process and can make skin appear dull or gray. Smoking reduces how quickly skin wounds heal, increases the risk of skin infections, and increases the severity of skin conditions, including psoriasis.
Smoking increases the risk of many types of cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute , tobacco smoke contains around 7, chemicals, of which at least 69 can cause cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women.
It is one of the most difficult to treat. Cigars, pipe-smoking, menthol cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and other forms of tobacco all cause cancer and other health problems. There is no safe way to use tobacco. Read more about how smoking affects the body here.
While the statistics are alarming, the good news is that quitting smoking reduces the risk of disease and death significantly. The risks drop further, the longer a person refrains from smoking.
These statistics illustrate the health benefits of quitting smoking:. Soon after quitting, people experience the following health benefits that can significantly improve their quality of life and serve as reminders of the health benefits that quitting can have:.
Read more about what happens when you quit smoking here. Though quitting can be stressful, people often start to notice their daily stress levels are much lower than when they were smoking within 6 months or so.
Quitting smoking is a different journey for everyone, and what works for one person will not always work for the next. Try out a few different ways to see which ones work best. Smoking cigarettes also presents a greater risk of developing and dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder COPD. Cigarettes are also linked to developing emphysema and chronic bronchitis. They can also trigger or exacerbate an asthma attack. This buildup limits blood flow and can lead to dangerous blockages.
Smoking also increases the risk of peripheral artery disease PAD , which occurs when the arteries to the arms and legs start to narrow, restricting blood flow. Research shows a direct link between smoking and developing PAD. Even those who used to smoke face a higher risk than people who never smoked.
This may be because tobacco and the other chemicals in cigarettes affect hormone levels. In males, the more cigarettes a person smokes and the longer they smoke for, the higher the risk of erectile dysfunction.
Smoking can also affect the quality of the sperm and therefore reduce fertility. According to the CDC , smoking can affect pregnancy and the developing fetus in several ways, including:. The CDC report that people who smoke regularly have a 30—40 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who do not. Smoking can also make it more difficult for people with diabetes to manage their condition. It can also cause additional inflammation in the body.
Smoking cigarettes can cause eye problems, including a greater risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. People who smoke have double the risk of gum disease.
This risk increases with the number of cigarettes a person smokes. It can also stain the teeth yellow or brown. A person who smokes may experience prematurely aged, wrinkled skin. Smoking can cause the hair and skin to smell of tobacco. It can also contribute to hair loss and balding. In addition to the well-documented link with lung cancer, smoking cigarettes can also contribute to other forms of cancer. The American Cancer Society report that cigarette smoking causes 20—30 percent of pancreatic cancers.
People who smoke are also three times as likely to develop bladder cancer than people who do not. Tobacco is especially linked to stomach cancers that occur near the esophagus. The ill effects of smoking cigarettes do not only affect people who smoke. Secondhand smoke can also have significant health effects on family members, friends, and coworkers.
While quitting smoking can be challenging, the CDC report that today, there are more people who used to smoke than people who currently smoke. Once a person stops smoking, the benefits start accumulating. The egg can't survive and, if left untreated, can be life-threatening for the mother.
Smoking also causes reduced fertility, meaning it makes it more difficult to get pregnant. The effects of smoking not only impact mom's health, but also that of her baby. Babies born too early or too small have increased risk of health complications and even death. You're more likely to get type 2 diabetes if you smoke. Additionally, smoking increases the risk of complications once diagnosed with diabetes, such as heart and kidney disease, poor blood flow to legs and feet which leads to infections and possible amputation , blindness and nerve damage.
Smoking can make you go blind. It damages your eyes and can result in vision loss. Age-related macular degeneration is caused by smoking. It is the leading cause of blindness in adults ages 65 and older. Basically, all the cancers. For both cancer patients and survivors, those who smoke are more likely to develop a second primary cancer. And now we know that smoking causes at least a dozen cancers , including liver and colorectal, and reduces the survival rates for prostate cancer patients.
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