Effects of Smoking

Health effects of smoking are usually targeted at the lung area and throat area where much of the action takes place. Smoking is one of the habits which can actually be deadly over time, with a slow burning quality that can cause irreversible and harmful effects to the body. While there are more and more people who are enamoured with the habit of smoking, the adverse health effects of smoking are actually able to catch up to its smokers in the long run.

Among young people, the health effects of smoking are less subtle but more pronounced over time. When young people smoke early, the growth of their lungs and other vital organs in the body are inhibited, causing it to function less than its intended optimum use for the growing body. Adolescents are prone to bearing the full brunt of the health effects of smoking in the sense that their bodies are exposed too early with the mixture of about 4,000 chemicals which make up a single cigarette. Another thing to consider is that they are more able to perpetuate the smoking habit until they grow into adulthood, making the habit more deeply ingrained and its adverse health effects more pronounced.

Another part of the body which is attacked by the ill health effects of smoking is the heart. When one starts smoking, the heart is compelled to do more work than it is used to. In itself, the heart is already one of the more overworked parts of the body. With the inclusion of the habit of smoking, the heart will have to strive harder in producing the normal oxygen levels the person requires. The heart rate of a smoker is much faster than a non smoker by two beats each minute.

The diminishing amount of oxygen in the body is most probably the root cause of the adverse health effects of smoking. Aside from making the heart overworked, this lack of normal oxygen intake also causes the blood vessels to constrict and makes blood flow more taxing for the circulatory system. Furthermore, the tar build-up in the lungs and in the throat can cause cancer and makes breathing more difficult even in moments where you are not smoking. When untreated, cancer can lead to an agonizing death.

Aside from these unnecessary stresses to the body, the shortening of one's life span can be considered as one of the most harmful health effects of smoking to a person. A smoker lives about a decade less than a non-smoker. Even passive smokers (those who do not smoke but are exposed to cigarette smoke consistently) are prone to experience this major health effect to their bodies if they are not careful.

Aside from having these severe health effects of smoking, the habit itself also encourages one to incorporate other equally destructive habits. Smoking is usually coupled with other addictions such as drinking, unprotected sex, and drugs-- which also has other negative effects to the body.

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