Even if you replace your cigarette with a pipe, hookah or cigar, you can’t keep away from the health risks linked with tobacco products. There is no safe conduct to smoke. Smoking tobacco is not helpful to your health. It is extremely dangerous.
Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When you light a cigarette, it generates more than 7,000 chemicals. Some of these are poisonous, which can cause cancer. Some ingredients are found in tobacco and in cigar used in hookahs and pipes. Cigars contain a higher level of tar, carcinogens and toxins than cigarettes. While if you’re using a hookah pipe, you will breathe in more smoke than smoking cigarette. Smoke from a hookah pipe produce secondhand smoke that exposes you to more carbon monoxide and toxic compounds than cigarettes do.
Smokers are prone to respiratory infections, flu and colds. Every time you smoke, you are inhaling harmful substances that can damage your lungs. In due time, your lungs lose their capacity to filter dangerous chemicals.
If the people around you smoke, you are usually prone to asthma, coughing and wheezing attacks than those living in a clean environment. You are also having the tendency to acquire ear infections and other health problems such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
Aside from respiratory diseases, smoking can damage your entire cardiovascular system as well. Smoking increases the risk of producing blood clots. When you smoke it increases blood pressure and decreases good cholesterol levels, which stretches the arteries and develops bad cholesterol. Nicotine causes blood vessels to firm that limits the flow of the blood. Weakened blood vessels and blood clots in the brain raise the risk of the smoker to suffer from stroke. Smokers are prone to higher risks of leukemia or blood cancer in the long run. Secondhand smokers are also prone to coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
There are visible signs of smoking. It involves the hair, nails and skin. Smokers usually build up brown or yellow stains on their teeth. Hair smells like tobacco also after you put out your cigarette. Your skin and fingernails may have yellow stain from frequently holding cigarettes. The chemicals in tobacco smoke changes the appearance of your skin. Smoking causes premature aging, wrinkles and skin discoloration.
Apart from these internal and external diseases, smoking is also harmful to your central nervous system. One of the most common ingredients in cigarettes is nicotine. It is a mood-altering drug. It gets to your brain in split seconds. Nicotine can stimulates your central nervous system, and it gives you an energize feeling for a while. You will feel tired and eventually crave for more. Nicotine is a smoking habit forming. Smoking can weaken your sense of smell and taste, so food can become less appetizing. It can also increase the risk of cataracts, poor eyesight and macular degeneration.
These are just some of the harmful effects of smoking in your health. There’s a lot more. To avoid severe complications, quit smoking now. Smoking withdrawal is not easy but avoiding this bad habit will prevent you from acquiring such diseases.
