Health effects on individual smokers
Unless they quit, up to half of all smokers will die from their smoking, most of them before their 70th birthday and only after years of suffering a reduced quality of life. Furthermore, the average smoker will die about 8 years earlier than a similar non-smoker.
There is also strong scientific evidence that smoking is related to more than two dozen diseases and conditions. Fortunately, most of these start to reverse after a smoker quits smoking. In fact, the benefits of quitting may begin in a matter of hours.
All smokers are at extra risk for:
- coronary heart disease (e.g., heart attacks)
- peripheral vascular disease (circulatory problems)
- aortic aneurysm
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol
- lung cancer
- cancer of the mouth, throat, and voice box
- cancer of the pancreas
- cancer of the kidney and urinary bladder
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- chronic bronchitis
- emphysema
- pneumonia
- influenza (the "flu")
- the common cold
- peptic ulcers
- Crohn's disease (a chronic bowel disease)
- tooth decay (cavities)
- gum disease
- osteoporosis;
- sleep problems (falling asleep inappropriately or frequent waking)
- cataracts
- Graves' disease (a type of thyroid disease)
Female smokers are at an extra risk for:
- cancer of the cervix
- menstrual problems
- fertility problems
- spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)
Male smokers have an extra risk of:
- erectile dysfunction
- fertility problems (problems with sperm)
There is some scientific evidence that smoking may also be related to cancer of the large intestine and leukemia.
In addition to various diseases, smoking also causes the skin to wrinkle and creates the appearance of premature aging. Smoking also reduces the sense of smell and taste.
Secondhand smoke
Secondhand smoke is what smokers exhale and what rises from an idle burning cigarette. You can see smoke in the air but what may not be so obvious is that there more than 7,000 chemicals in the smoke.
About 70 of these chemicals are carcinogens (cancer causing). The chemicals also contribute directly to other diseases, such as asthma, heart disease, and emphysema. And that's for smokers and non-smokers alike.
More than 49,000 non-smokers die each year in the United States due to tobacco use - over 3,400 lung cancer deaths and about 46,000 deaths from heart disease will be caused by secondhand smoke. Exposure for as little as 8 to 20 minutes causes physical reactions linked to heart and stroke disease:
- The heart rate increases.
- The heart's oxygen supply decreases.
- Blood vessels constrict, which increases blood pressure and makes the heart work harder.
The health effects on children exposed to secondhand smoke include sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and breathing problems in children as young as 18 months of age. More than 3 times as many infants die from secondhand smoke-related SIDS as from child abuse or homicide. Children exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes are more likely to suffer breathing problems such as asthma and damage to their lungs. Children are twice as likely to smoke if their parents are smokers.
If you are a non-smoker, exposure to secondhand smoke increases your chance of lung cancer by 25%, heart disease by 10%, as well as leukemia, lymphoma, and cancer of the sinuses, brain, breast, uterine, cervix, and thyroid. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the risk of developing cancer from exposure to secondhand smoke is about 57 times the total risk posed by all outdoor air contaminants regulated under US environmental law.