subject: Smoking Side Effects - It's More Than Just Bad For You [print this page] Author: Rob Hawkins Author: Rob Hawkins
*** Do Not Quit Smoking! Click Here *** If you ask smokers about smoking side effects, they will all pretty much accept that it has adverse health repercussions. Unfortunately, the answer that they will most often give is something like: Yes, it is bad for you. This is a very convenient answer because it placates the person asking the question, but it also minimizes the true smoking side effects to something very general and vague. This is probably a subconscious mechanism that smokers have developed to appease non smokers, but it is also a defense mechanism for the smokers themselves. So let us put bad for you into some real context shall we? Here are the true smoking side effects: - Lung Cancer: One of the most well known smoking side effects. The tar that is found in cigarettes, along with the 250 + chemicals found in cigarette smoke can cause lung cancer. To be more specific, the CDC estimates that male smokers are 23 times more likely than their nonsmoking peers to develop lung cancer. That number is 13 times for women that have this habit. The lungs are not the only organs that are susceptible to increased risks. The throat and the mouth are also at risk. - Heart Disease: The carbon monoxide that is found in cigarette smoke robs our blood of oxygen. This makes it more likely that cholesterol will develop in the arteries. The nicotine in cigarettes is also responsible for high blood pressure. We know that high blood pressure and high cholesterol are leading contributors to heart attacks. - Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis: These two conditions are lumped under the name of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Basically, you experience severe shortness of breath, extensive mucus production in the lungs and the destruction of air sacs in the lungs. Basic activities become impossible as you find it more and more difficult to breathe. In severe cases you may require constant oxygen flow (you will be walking around with an oxygen tank and tubes going into your nostrils). This smoking side effect is a slow and painful killer. The disease progresses slowly and is not reversible. Eventually, the lungs give out! As we can see "bad for you" is a huge understatement when it comes to describing smoking side effects. Sure, not everyone will develop these diseases. In fact, some lifelong smokers do not develop any. But they are certainly in the very small minority. The vast majority will not be so lucky. Their habit will eventually catch up to them and become a contributing factor in their deteriorating health.About the Author:
The Author recommends that you DO NOT Quite Smoking. There's a healthier alternative to it. To know more, please click here.
