The Absolute Truth About Smoking And Health |How Smoking Affects Your Body

Despite recent reductions in its prevalence, tobacco smoking remains one of the leading preventable causes of ill health and premature death worldwide. Tobacco use is categorized into combustible and non-combustible products. Combustible tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, small cigars, water pipes (also known as hookah), and pipe tobacco. Non-combustible tobacco products include electronic cigarettes and tobacco formulations developed for chewing, dipping, or snuffing.

Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of more than 4,000 chemicals, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and oxidizing gases, known to be cardiotoxins. However, the nature and relative toxicity of many of these chemicals are still poorly understood. Nicotine is the principal active ingredient in tobacco and is highly addictive, leading to sustained tobacco use.

In this video, we will examine some of the major health impacts of smoking on your body. Cigarette smoking affects the human body in numerous ways, causing the development of chronic diseases and cancers. The health effects are observed not only in smokers but also in individuals exposed to secondhand smoke. The impact of cigarette smoking depends on the duration of smoking over the years and the exposure to cigarette smoke.

The mechanism by which cigarette smoke causes adverse health outcomes involves multiple complex steps, resulting from exposure to free radicals from the components of tobacco smoke, leading to increased oxidative stress, inflammation, and DNA damage. The chemical toxins in tobacco smoke are transferred from the lungs to the bloodstream, where they are transported to nearly every part of the human body.

Smoking is currently the largest preventable cause of cancer-related deaths, accounting for approximately 30% of them. Carcinogens in cigarette smoke bind to human DNA, resulting in DNA damage and gene mutations. These genetic changes lead to uncontrolled cell growth and inhibit normal mechanisms that restrain cell growth and spread, resulting in cancer. There is a causal relationship between cigarette smoking and cancers of the head, neck, liver, bladder, cervix, esophagus, colon, and rectum. The evidence is insufficient to conclude a causal relationship between smoking and cancers of the breast and prostate.

There is a causal relationship between cigarette smoking and cardiovascular events. Major mechanisms underlying smoking-induced cardiovascular disease include endothelial dysfunction, prothrombotic effects, inflammation, altered lipid metabolism, increased demand for myocardial oxygen, decreased supply of myocardial blood and oxygen, and insulin resistance. Cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke are major causes of coronary heart disease, stroke, aortic aneurysms, and peripheral arterial disease. Cigarette smoking and secondhand smoking are also major causes of death due to cardiovascular disease.

Cigarette smoking is also associated with the development of chronic pulmonary diseases. In fact, cigarette smoking is the primary cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Some of the mechanisms involved include the loss of cilia in the lungs, mucus gland hyperplasia, and overall inflammation, resulting in the abnormal functioning of the lungs as well as injury. Cigarette smoking may also exacerbate asthma in adults. Underlying mechanisms may include chronic airway inflammation, impaired mucociliary clearance, increased bronchial hyperresponsiveness, increased lymphocytic differentiation, increased production of antibodies, and greater allergic responses. Smoking also increases the risk of developing tuberculosis and associated complications.

Maternal cigarette smoking causes several reproductive abnormalities. Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke binds to hemoglobin, depriving the fetus of oxygen, ultimately resulting in low birth weight. Other toxins in tobacco smoke, including nicotine, cadmium, lead, mercury, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, have been found to cause sudden infant death syndrome, premature births, and decreased fertility in women. More recent evidence indicates a causal relationship between maternal cigarette smoking and orofacial clefts and ectopic pregnancies. A causal relationship between smoking and erectile dysfunction in men has also been established.

Additionally, smoking impairs immune function, resulting in an increased risk of pulmonary infections and rheumatoid arthritis. It also affects the gastrointestinal tract, increasing the risk of peptic ulcer disease. There is also an increased risk of hip fractures and low bone mineral density in post-menopausal women who smoke. Additionally, smokers with diabetes have a higher risk of developing complications, including nephropathy, blindness, peripheral neuropathy, and amputations. Recent evidence indicates that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is 30 to 40% higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Passive smoking has also been linked with negative health consequences such as low birth weight in offspring of mothers exposed to secondhand smoke, sudden infant death syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.

It is clear that smoking is a harmful habit. Therefore, it is better to avoid smoking completely if you want to live longer.