Smoking and Your Health - A Guide to Stop Smoking
The bottom line with smoking is that it is bad for your health.
We all know that smoking causes lung cancer but did you realise that it is directly (or indirectly) responsible for a whole range of conditions which include:
- Emphysema (progressive lung disease)
- Upper respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, asthma and pneumonia
- Coronary heart disease
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Stomach ulcers
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)leading to a stroke
- Decreased sense of taste and smell
- Ageing of the skin (increased lines and wrinkles)
- Impotence (men)
- Osteoporosis
- Throat disorders
- Halitosis (bad breath)
- Eyesight problems
- Dental problems
- Insomnia
- Infertility (women)
- Other forms of cancer including throat, mouth, stomach, bladder and cervix)
So think about these before you light your next cigarette. They are all long term effects of smoking which tend to appear later on in life. It is very easy to ignore these when you are in your teens but not so easy when you reach middle age as this is the time when they are likely to occur.
And evidence shows that smoking can take 7 to 8 years off your life.
Sadly, many of the deaths caused by smoking are often relatively young people which suggest that they could have been avoided.
But the good news is that many of these can be reversed or avoided if you stop smoking. In fact, you will notice some improvements within hours of you stopping and these will increase over time.
These are discussed in greater detail in our Stopping Smoking section.
Smoking and your health - Guide to Stop Smoking Index:
- Smoking and your health
- Smoking and heart disease
- Smoking and cancer
- Smoking and strokes
- Smoking and halitosis
- Smoking and respiratory conditions
- Smoking and osteoporosis
- Smoking and throat disorders
- Smoking and eye problems
- Smoking and dental problems