The anti-tobacco advertisements before the movies have made people learn by heart that smoking is injurious to health, and smoking causes cancer. But, what they missed in that mandatory warning is that smoking causes more harm to your body than just cancer. This evil socioeconomic and lifestyle factor has many perilous effects on your life.
But clearly, those warnings have failed in causing enough fear among people so that they quit smoking because Germany’s Statista, which is specialised in consumer data, informed that at present, about 19% of adults around the world smoke tobacco. This is not it, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that smoking causes more deaths each year than the following causes combined:
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- Illegal drug use
- Alcohol use
- Motor vehicle injuries
- Firearm-related incidents
According to the agency, cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 fatalities each year in the United States and this is nearly one in five deaths. In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that the tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the earth has ever faced. Everyone is well aware that smoking causes cancers but only a few know which type of cancer. While informing that smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in the body, the CDC lists the body parts that are most likely to be affected by smoking:
- Bladder
- Blood (acute myeloid leukemia)
- Cervix
- Colon and rectum (colorectal)
- Esophagus
- Kidney and ureter
- Larynx
- Liver
- Oropharynx
- Pancreas
- Stomach
- Trachea, bronchus, and lung
The agency goes on to say that smoking makes it harder for a woman to get pregnant and it affects the baby’s health before and after the birth as it increases the risks for:
- Stillbirth
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Preterm (early) delivery
- Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS or crib death)
- Low birth weight
- Orofacial clefts in infants
The CDC also warned the smokers by saying that it puts them at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease), adding that cigarette smoking causes stroke and coronary heart disease.
Now let’s talk about what smoking does to the skin. The American Osteopathic College of Dermatology (AOCD) said, “Short-term effects of smoking on the skin and mucous membranes involves yellowing of the fingers and nails, discoloration of the teeth, and even a black hairy tongue. Long-term effects include dry skin, uneven skin pigmentation, baggy eyes, a saggy jawline, and deeper facial wrinkles and furrows.”
According to the AOCD, it has been linked to increased severity in several dermatologic diseases like palmoplantar pustulosis, psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, systemic lupus erythematosus, and various vascular and oral diseases.
The respiratory diseases caused by smoking include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, as per the CDC. The agency further detailed the diseases that are caused by cigarette smoking, take a look:
- Can cause tooth loss
- Increases cataract risk
- Causes type 2 Diabetes mellitus
- Decreases immune function
- Cause of rheumatoid arthritis
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