As a smoker, you may have heard family, friends or people around you asking you to quit smoking. Although they may seem irritating, they have a point. If you do not already know, tobacco is the number one cause of preventable death around the world.
Smoking is also the leading cause of numerous illness and diseases and is directly and also indirectly responsible for few million deaths each year.
Smoking is the primary cause of heart disease,
stroke, many cancers, emphysema as well as chronic bronchitis.
Tobacco contains over 4 thousand chemicals of which 63 have been confirmed by research to cause cancer in humans.
Can you imagine inhaling 63 types of chemicals at a time that will lead you straight to cancer? Other than the most known lung cancer, it also leads to lip, throat, tongue, bladder, esophagus, kidney and about any other organ in your body.
Some few of the chemicals in cigarettes include nicotine, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, methane and much more.
Let’s take a closer look at these chemicals and how they can affect your health.
Nicotine
This chemical is one of the most, if not the most addictive substance around. In fact, it is more addictive than alcohol, heroin and cocaine. Only in seconds after inhaling smoke from cigarettes, nicotine will reach your brain, faster than the type of drugs that are injected into your blood.
This will then cause your blood pressure to escalate, which will increase the risk for strokes and heart attacks.
Carbon Monoxide
Cigarette smoke also contains high level of carbon monoxide. The dangerous thing about this smoke is that your red blood cells will pick up this hazardous smoke instead of oxygen. As less oxygen and more poisonous smoke reaches your heart, lungs and other organs, the risk of contracting a heart attack or stroke greatly increases.
Tar
Tar in smoke is also the similar substance that you can find on the road. While they are meant for roads, they are definitely not meant for your lungs.
In your lungs, it has tiny little hair like structures which are called cilia. Their main function is to clean and sweep out dust or particles that we breathe.
But since tar sticks to the cilia, they are not able to clean the particles or dust. Thus, your airways will begin to be congested and clogged up with mucus. This leads to smoker’s cough and more seriously, chronic bronchitis.
Thus, it is definitely wise to quit smoking. With proper planning, determination and willpower, you will be able to just like the thousands who successfully quit smoking each year.
