No matter how you smoke it, tobacco is
dangerous to your health and affects your entire
body.
Tobacco smoke is enormously harmful to your
health. There’s no safe way to smoke. Replacing
your cigarette with a cigar, pipe, or hookah won’t
help you avoid the health risks associated with
tobacco products.
Cigarettes contain about 600 ingredients. When
they burn, they generate more than 7,000
chemicals, according to the American Lung
Association. Many of those chemicals are
poisonous and at least 69 of them can cause
cancer. Many of the same ingredients are found
in cigars and in tobacco used in pipes and
hookahs. According to the National Cancer
Institute, cigars have a higher level of
carcinogens, toxins, and tar than cigarettes.
When using a hookah pipe, you’re likely to inhale
more smoke than you would from a cigarette.
Hookah smoke has many toxic compounds and
exposes you to more carbon monoxide than
cigarettes do. Hookahs also produce more
secondhand smoke.
In the United States, the mortality rate for
smokers is three times that of people who never
smoked, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. It’s one of the leading
causes of preventable death.
Central Nervous System
One of the ingredients in
tobacco is a mood-altering
drug called nicotine. Nicotine
reaches your brain in mere
seconds. It’s a central nervous system stimulant,
so it makes you feel more energized for a little
while. As that effect subsides, you feel tired and
crave more. Nicotine is habit forming.
Smoking increases risk of macular degeneration,
cataracts, and poor eyesight. It can also weaken
your sense of taste and sense of smell, so food
may become less enjoyable.
Your body has a stress hormone called
corticosterone, which lowers the effects of
nicotine. If you’re under a lot of stress, you’ll
need more nicotine to get the same effect.
Physical withdrawal from smoking can impair
your cognitive functioning and make you feel
anxious, irritated, and depressed. Withdrawal can
also cause headaches and sleep problems.
Respiratory System
When you inhale smoke,
you’re taking in substances
that can damage your lungs.
Over time, your lungs lose
their ability to filter harmful chemicals. Coughing
can’t clear out the toxins sufficiently, so these
toxins get trapped in the lungs. Smokers have a
higher risk of respiratory infections, colds, and
flu.
In a condition called emphysema, the air sacs in
your lungs are destroyed. In chronic bronchitis,
the lining of the tubes of the lungs becomes
inflamed. Over time, smokers are at increased
risk of developing these forms of chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Long-
term smokers are also at increased risk of lung
cancer.
Withdrawal from tobacco products can cause
temporary congestion and respiratory pain as
your lungs begin to clear out.
Children whose parents smoke are more prone to
coughing, wheezing, and asthma attacks than
children whose parents don’t. They also tend to
have more ear infections. Children of smokers
have higher rates of pneumonia and bronchitis.
Cardiovascular System
Smoking damages your entire
cardiovascular system. When
nicotine hits your body, it
gives your blood sugar a
boost. After a short time, you’re left feeling tired
and craving more. Nicotine causes blood vessels
to tighten, which restricts the flow of blood
(peripheral artery disease). Smoking lowers good
cholesterol levels and raises blood pressure,
which can result in stretching of the arteries and
a buildup of bad cholesterol (atherosclerosis).
Smoking raises the risk of forming blood clots.
Blood clots and weakened blood vessels in the
brain increase a smoker’s risk of stroke. Smokers
who have heart bypass surgery are at increased
risk of recurrent coronary heart disease. In the
long term, smokers are at greater risk of blood
cancer (leukemia).
There’s a risk to nonsmokers, too. Breathing
secondhand smoke has an immediate effect on
the cardiovascular system. Exposure to
secondhand smoke increases your risk of stroke,
heart attack, and coronary heart disease.
Skin, Hair, and Nails (Integumentary
System)
Some of the more obvious
signs of smoking involve the
skin. The substances in
tobacco smoke actually
change the structure of your skin. Smoking
causes skin discoloration, wrinkles, and
premature aging. Your fingernails and the skin on
your fingers may have yellow staining from
holding cigarettes. Smokers usually develop
yellow or brown stains on their teeth. Hair holds
on to the smell of tobacco long after you put
your cigarette out. It even clings to nonsmokers.
Digestive System
Smokers are at great risk of
developing oral problems.
Tobacco use can cause gum
inflammation (gingivitis) or
infection (periodontitis). These problems can
lead to tooth decay, tooth loss, and bad breath.
Smoking also increases risk of cancer of the
mouth, throat, larynx, and esophagus. Smokers
have higher rates of kidney cancer and
pancreatic cancer. Even cigar smokers who don’t
inhale are at increased risk of mouth cancer.
Smoking also has an effect on insulin, making it
more likely that you’ll develop insulin resistance.
That puts you at increased risk of type 2
diabetes. When it comes to diabetes, smokers
tend to develop complications at a faster rate
than nonsmokers.
Smoking also depresses appetite, so you may
not be getting all the nutrients your body needs.
Withdrawal from tobacco products can cause
nausea.
Sexuality and Reproductive System
Restricted blood flow can
affect a man’s ability to get
an erection. Both men and
women who smoke may have
difficulty achieving orgasm and are at higher risk
of infertility. Women who smoke may experience
menopause at an earlier age than nonsmoking
women. Smoking increases a woman’s risk of
cervical cancer.
Smokers experience more complications of
pregnancy, including miscarriage, problems with
the placenta, and premature delivery.
Pregnant mothers who are exposed to
secondhand smoke are also more likely to have a
baby with low birth weight. Babies born to
mothers who smoke while pregnant are at
greater risk of low birth weight, birth defects, and
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Newborns
who breathe secondhand smoke suffer more ear
infections and asthma attacks.
source: http//www.healthline.com/health/smoking/effects-on-body