What Smoking really does to your Body’s Health?
October 12th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
When someone smokes, their body becomes dependent on the nicotine in cigarettes, cigars, or pip tobacco. Nicotine is a chemical that can have physical and mood-altering effects. Because these effects are pleasant in the short-term, this helps people become addicted. This addiction is also reinforced by the sometimes severe withdrawal symptoms associated with stopping use of nicotine.
However, even though withdrawal may be difficult, the use of tobacco and nicotine can cause numerous health problems. Although lung cancer may be one of the best known ailments associated with smoking, it also affects your heart, blood vessels, appearance, and senses, as well as fertility and childbirth.
Lungs
Smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancers. In addition to lung cancer, smoking can also cause emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smokers are up to 20 times more likely to get lung cancera likelihood that is affected by the length of time a person has smoked, and the number of cigarettes smoked on a daily basis. Someone who quits smoking, on the other hand, will lower their risk of lung cancer, although it will still be higher than that of a non-smoker. In addition, secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicalsof which, more than 50 are known to cause cancer in people or animals.
Heart and Circulatory System
The heart and circulatory system can also be under attack by smoking, since smoking can result in an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The reason for this connection is unknown, but researchers believe the nicotine may cause adrenal glands to produce heart-stressing hormones that make blood pressure and heart rate rise. Additionally, the carbon monoxide in the smoke takes oxygen away from the heart and other organs. Smokers may also be at a greater risk of heart attack or stroke, since smoking causes blood vessels to constrict.
Cancer
As mentioned in reference to the lungs, smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. However, it is also a major cause of cancer in the esophagus, larynx, throat, and mouth. Smoking can also contribute to cancer in the bladder, pancreas, liver, kidney, cervix, stomach, colon and rectum. Finally, smoking may also be partially responsible for some leukemia.
Appearance
Smoke ravages a persons appearance and makes him or her look years past their age. Skin is greatly affected by smoking. The skin becomes starved of oxygen, which makes it look dry, irritated, and prematurely wrinkledparticularly around the mouth and eyes. It can also cause stained teeth, fingers, and fingernails. Smokers may have bad breath, gum disease, and bad-smelling clothes and hair.
Fertility
Smoking negatively impacts the fertility of men and women. Women smokers may experience increases risks of infertility and miscarriage, while men risk infertility and impotence because of damaged blood vessels in the penis. Smoking can also affect sperm quality and density, as smokers may produce less sperm and sperm with more abnormalities. If women smokers do conceive, it usually takes longer and they are more likely candidates for a miscarriage.
Pregnancy and Newborn Complications
Even after successful conception, smoking parents will still have difficulties. Mothers who smoke during pregnancy risk low birth weight, premature delivery, and impaired lung function in their babies. Babies with mothers who smoke are also more likely to be stillborn, die shortly after birth, or die from cot death. Within the first year of life, babies with smoker parents are more likely to contract pneumonia and bronchitis. They have a higher risk of suffering from frequent, severe asthma attacks, and are more likely to become regular smokers as they grow up.
Senses
When you smoke, your senses of taste and smell are deadened. Food is not as appetizing and you become unaware of perfume or scented candles. In addition, a smoker doesnt notice the smell given off by her own clothes and hair, which can be very unappealing.
Conclusion
Smoking affects more than just your lungs. It affects your entire bodyand those of the people who inhale secondhand smoke. By quitting smoking, you can reverse many of the effects mentioned above. Even if the risks of smoking cannot be completely erased, by quitting you can reduce them as much as possible and return your body to a happy, healthy state.For more information on quiting smoking have a look at the quit-smoking-expert
Technorati Tags: cause of lung cancer, lung cancer smoking, nicotine
Related Tags: cause of lung cancer, lung cancer prevention, nicotine, quit smoking
A Look at Lung Cancer: Ready to Quit Smoking Yet?
September 12th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Although smoking can cause many different physical ailments, one of the most serious diseases associated with tobacco use is lung cancer. Smoking causes 87 percent of all cases of lung cancer. The leading cause of cancer deaths in America, lung cancer costs more people their lives than prostate, colon, lymph, and breast cancer combined.
The risk of lung cancer increases the longer you smoke, and the more cigarettes you smoke regularly. However, if you quit smokingeven after many yearsyou can still greatly reduce your risk of lung cancer. Prevention of the disease is very important because lung cancer typically is not found until it has reached an advanced stage. The survival rate for lung cancer victims, although improving, is still below that of many other cancers.
The most common symptom of lung cancer is usually a cough. This cough is caused by a tumor blocking passage of air or irritating the airway lining. Other symptoms include coughing up blood, chest pain, a smokers cough that grows worse, repeated bouts of pneumonia or bronchitis, shortness of breath, fatigue, appetite and subsequent weight loss, or hoarseness lasting over two weeks. Sometimes, lung cancer spreads to other parts of the body (also called metastasizing), and may cause headaches or bone pain.
Background
Human lungs are paired organs that occupy the majority of the chest cavity, located on either side of the heart. The left lung has two lobes and the right lung has three. The pleura, a thin membrane, cover the lungs. Likewise, airway and windpipe linings have surface cells (columnar epithelium) and glands that produce mucus and other fluids.
Air travels from the nose or mouth through the trachea, which separates into two bronchi that enter either lung. Within the lungs, the bronchi continue dividing into smaller tubules, the smallest of which is called the alveoli. Alveoli are grouped in clusters, or lobules, which are then grouped into lobes. An alveolus is surrounded by capillaries. Capillaries are part of the pulmonary blood vessels that connect the lungs to the heart. Blood flows through the capillaries, carbon dioxide is delivered into the alveoli, and oxygen is diffused in the bloodstream.
The columnar epithelium (airways and windpipe lining) in healthy lungs divide in an orderly, controlled manner. When a person has lung cancer, these cells continue to reproduce past the point when new cells are needed. Lung cancer may take years to develop, but lung tissue may start to change immediately after being exposed to carcinogens in cigarette smoke. Continued smoking means more exposure to carcinogens; normal cells become more damaged and may become cancerous. Because of the great reach of the lungs cells throughout the body, cancerous cells may spread throughout the body (metastasize) more easily.
Lung Cancer Causes and Types
As previously mentioned, cigarette smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer. Exposure to secondhand smoke, asbestos and other industrial carcinogens, and high concentrations of radon are other potential causes of lung cancer. In particular, smokers who experience exposure to asbestos or radon are even more at risk for cancer than nonsmokers.
A cancer is named by the body part in which it originated. So even if a nonsmoker has cancer in the kidney that spreads (metastasizes) to the lungs, it is considered metastatic kidney cancer. Nonsmokers rarely get lung cancer, and smoking does not affect the spread of cancer from other body parts to the lungs.
Of cancers originating in the lungs, there are two main types: small cell and non-small cell. Small cell cancer afflicts smokers almost exclusively, and spreads early on during the course of the disease. This type of cancer is typically treated with chemotherapy and radiation, as surgery is generally not an option. However, the five-year survival rate is very low.
More than 75 percent of lung cancers are non-small cell. The four main types of non-small cell cancer are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and bronchoaveolar carcinoma. If caught early in the course of the disease, non-small cell cancer can often be surgically removed. Adenocarcinoma is common for nonsmokers and people exposed to secondhand smoke. On the other hand, bronchoaveolar carcinoma tends to occur more often in smokers and in more than one location simultaneously.
Conclusion
Causing nearly 90 percent of lung cancer cases, smoking is by far the greatest risk factor for this disease. However a decade after quitting, your risk of lung cancer is reduced by one-third. Reducing the number of cigarettes smoked can also reduce the risk, although it is not nearly as effective as quitting entirely.For more information on quiting smoking have a look at the quit-smoking-expert
Technorati Tags: lung cancer prevention, lung cancer smoking, quit smoking
Related Tags: cause of lung cancer, lung cancer prevention, nicotine, quit smoking
