Health Effects Of Smoking

It’s very difficult for some people to understand, but the health effects of smoking touch more than just your lungs alone.  While many still connect lung cancer with smoking, they are often

uneducated about just how completely dangerous health effects of smoking effects can be.

The judge stated that the conspiracy dated back to 1953, when a group of tobacco companies met together at the Plaza Hotel in New York City and devised a public relations plan to counter health concerns associated with smoking.  The judge also ruled that even after the 1964 Surgeon General’s report linked smoking to lung cancer, tobacco companies continued to deny and purposely distort many serious dangers of smoking their products.

It was also found that the tobacco industry marketed their product to youth groups; that even though the industry claims it does not want children to smoke, the companies were caught tracking youth behavior and preferences, thereby ensuring that “marketing and promotion reaches youth,” even hiding from them the serious dangers of smoking while their young bodies were still developing.

Setting aside your own personal health, have you ever thought about the effects of cigarette smoking on your pocketbook?  Someone who smokes a pack a day will wind up spending over $700 every year on cigarettes.  That’s an entire month’s rent, two months worth of groceries, three or four car payments, or the cost of a very nice flat-screen television.  Not to mention how that money could grow in a nice savings account!

The effects of cigarette smoking also reach out to those around you as well.  Those who are exposed to second-hand smoke inhale about 15% the amount of nicotine as those who are active smokers, so for every ten cigarettes you have around your children, they may as well have smoked one a half cigarettes themselves.

When thinking about the body’s mid-section, cancers of the esophagus, abdomen, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, and colon are all traced to the health effects of smoking.  The bones are also not immune to smoking’s effects.  Osteoporosis, spine and hip fractures, and degenerative disc disease can be traced back to smoking.  Infertility is another issue with heavy and chronic smokers, both male and female.  Men can have lower sperm counts and decreased sperm motility, and women can have difficulty with ovulation when smoking. 

As for the rest of the body, the health effects of smoking are many, including blood diseases, decreased circulation to the feet and toes, and difficulty recovering from wounds.  Really, when you think about it, there is not one place on the human body that does not suffer, and suffer greatly, from smoking’s effects.  Really, is there any reason why it’s not time to quit?