Nearly one out of every five deaths or an estimated 443, 000 deaths each year in the United States are accounted for by the adverse health effects from cigarette smoking.1 Compared to all the deaths combined from murders, suicides, motor vehicle injuries, alcohol use, illegal drug use, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), more deaths are caused each year by tobacco.1
The following are some smoking related health complications:
Cardiac and Peripheral Vascular Disease
- One of the leading causes of death in the United States, coronary heart disease, is caused by smoking.1
- When cholesterol and other fats deposit in the arteries leaving them narrow, blocked or rigid, it causes hardening of the arteries, which is a process that develops over years. Blood clots are likely to form when the arteries narrow (atherosclerosis). Blood clots are two to four times more likely to form in those who smoke, because smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing process in your arteries.2
- Cardiovascular disease can take on many forms depending on which blood vessels are involved.3 The most common causes of sudden death are blood clots in the heart and brain. Around 30% of blood clots in the arteries supplying the heart, or coronary thrombosis, are caused by smoking and can lead to a heart attack. Smokers make up 9 out of 10 heart bypass patients and tend to develop coronary thrombosis 10 years earlier than non-smokers.2
- A risk factor for heart attacks and stroke is high blood pressure. Smoking can raise blood pressure.2
- Peripheral vascular disease, which is the obstruction of the large arteries in the arms and legs, can cause a range of problems from pain to tissue loss or gangrene. Smokers are at risk of developing peripheral vascular disease because cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels. 1
Respiratory Disease
- Smoking causes an estimated 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease by damaging the airways and alveoli (small air sacs) of the lungs, and because of this, can also cause other lung diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis.1
- Giving up smoking at any stage reduces the rate of decline in lung capacity, as lung damage from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is permanent. There can be three times the usual rate in decline of lung function in smokers, and as lung function declines, breathlessness begins. Hospital care may be required as this condition progresses and breathlessness worsens, which will ultimately lead to death.2
- It is estimated that more than 90% of non-smokers have little or no emphysema, but that 94% of 20 cigarettes a day smokers have some emphysema, when the lungs were examined after death.2
- Smoking can counteract asthma medication by worsening the inflammation of the airways that the medicine is trying to ease.2
Sexual and Reproductive Health
Sexual and Reproductive Health- It is more likely for couples who smoke to have fertility problems than couples who are non-smokers.2
- There is about a 50% increase in the risk of erectile dysfunction for men in their 30s and 40s who smoke. There could already be damage to other areas of the body from cigarette smoking, such as the blood vessels that supply the heart, and erectile dysfunction could just be an early warning signal.2
- If you smoke during pregnancy you are twice as likely to have a baby that is born prematurely and with a low birth weight.2
Eye Health
- You can have itchiness and a bloodshot appearance as a result of damage caused to your eyes by smoke, because blood vessels in the eye are sensitive and can be easily damaged by smoke.2
- Macular degeneration which can result in the gradual loss of eyesight, is twice as likely in heavy smokers.2
- There is an increased risk of developing cataracts if you smoke.2
Dental Health
- Teeth and gums can be stained by smoking.2
- Bad breath, swollen gums, and teeth falling out, are all results of periodontal disease, which you have an increased risk for if you smoke.2
- There is an increased development of mouth ulcers due to smoking, and smoking also causes an acid taste in the mouth.2
Bone Health
- Postmenopausal women who have never smoked have higher bone density than women who smoke, who have lower bone density.1
- There is an increased risk for hip fracture in women who smoke compared to women who have never smoked.1
Appearance
- You can have paler skin and more wrinkles if you smoke, as smoking lowers levels of vitamin A and reduces the blood supply to the skin.2
Cancer
- You are more likely to get cancer if you are a smoker than a non-smoker. Lung, throat, and mouth cancer hardly ever affect non-smokers, but often affect those that do smoke.2
- An estimated 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women and 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men are caused by smoking .1 The longer you have smoked and the more cigarettes you smoke in a day, the higher your risk of lung cancer. The earlier in life you start smoking and the deeper you inhale, also increases your risk for lung cancer. It takes approximately 15 years for ex-smokers to be at the same risk for lung cancer as non-smokers.2
- Cancer of the uterus, stomach cancer, throat cancer, mouth cancer, lung cancer, cancer of the larynx, kidney cancer, esophageal cancer, cancer of the cervix, bladder cancer, and acute myeloid leukemia, are all cancers that can be caused by smoking.1
- You are at four times higher risk for contracting mouth cancer if you smoke compared to a non-smoker.2
Complications for Children
- You have twice the risk of getting asthma and asthmatic bronchitis if you grow up in a home where one or both of the parents smoke. Developing allergies is an increased risk for children that grew up in households where parents smoked.2
- An infant is more prone to severe respiratory infections if he or she grows up in a household where one or both parents smoke. 2
References
1.Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (10, January 2012). Smoking and Tobacco Use: Health effects of Cigarette Smoke. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/
2.netdoctor. (2, February2011). Smoking-Health Risks. Retrieved January 15, 2012, from http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/smokehealth.htm