Health Risks Of Smoking | Smoking and Cancer | Other Smoking Health Risks

Health Risks Of Smoking

That smoking is bad for your health is something that almost everyone knows. What a lot of people don't actually know is that smoking doesn't just increase your chances of getting cancer, but can lead to a whole range of health problems. Smoking has been linked with a higher risk of several diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, lung, throat and mouth cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, high blood pressure, gum disease, etc.

What Exactly Makes Tobacco So Unhealthy?

Tobacco contains 400 or more toxic substances. A lot of these get released when tobacco is burned in a cigarette. The most damaging toxins that get inhaled when smoking include:

• Tar, which is the toxic chemical in cigarettes that causes cancer.
• Carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas that decreases the oxygen in your body.
• Nicotine, an addictive substance that makes you crave for that next cigarette and also increases your cholesterol levels.
• Other toxic gases that cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The amount of health damage that may be done by smoking depends on the number of cigarettes that you smoke, whether you smoke filtered cigarettes or not and the way the tobacco you smoke was prepared.

Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease

It's not cancer that's the main cause of smoking related deaths, but cardiovascular disease. Smoking makes your arteries harden and narrow faster than normal. Harder and narrower arteries can cause blood clots to form. All types of cardiovascular disease are much more common in smokers. The effects of cardiovascular disease depend on the arteries that are involved. If a blood clot forms in the arteries that supply the heart, a heart attack can be caused. If blood vessels that supply the brain are affected, this can cause a stroke, paralysis or dementia. Blood clots in kidney blood vessels can lead to high blood pressure and kidney failure. In arteries supplying the legs, gangrene can result and amputation might be necessary.

Smoking and Cancer

As most people know, smoking can cause cancer. While smoking has been linked with an increased risk of getting different types of cancer, it mostly contributes to developing lung, throat and mouth cancer.

Research shows that about 90% of all lung cancer cases can be attributed to smoking and that one in ten smokers eventually die because of lung cancer. For heavy smokers the odds increase to one in five.

Other Smoking Health Risks

Smoking is the main cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (about 80% of all cases are due to smoking), which is a term used for a number of conditions that impede airflow to the lungs. COPD causes permanent lung damage over the long term, severely decreasing lung function. Death may eventually occur from this chronic condition.

Smoking also raises blood pressure and can lead to numerous oral health problems, such as gum disease (which can cause tooth loss), teeth discoloration, and increased bone loss in the jaw.

The negative health effects of smoking go on and on. If you want to maintain your health, or limit any damage that might already be done, stop smoking today. It won't be easy, but it'll be one of the best decisions you've ever made.

Zane Schwarzlose is a writer at the Lakeway Center for Family and Cosmetic Dentistry, an Austin dental office. Zane is glad he never started smoking.