The effects of smoking are wider than many people realize. Everybody knows about how smoking contributes to many cases of lung cancer, but there are many other effects too. Some of these start as soon as a person begins to smoke.

Immediate Effects

- The blood pressure and heart rate go up immediately, with the first inhalations on a cigarette.

- Smoking begins to have effects on the lungs immediately too. Even someone who only smokes occasionally or has only smoked for a short time will find that they are more likely to develop coughs and sinus infections when they have a cold. They will probably also stay sick longer.

- The effect on the blood vessels means that you are more likely to suffer headaches if you smoke.

- Smoking also has effects on the teeth. The cocktail of chemicals in cigarettes attacks the teeth, discoloring them and causing cavities.

- Smoking makes you smell bad to a non-smoker - which is most people these days. Your breath, hair and clothes will smell the worst. You will not be pleasant for a non-smoker to kiss.

- Most people do not like having smoke in the air that they breathe, so many people may avoid your company when you are smoking.

- For both of the above reasons, you will be a less popular date than you would be if you didn't smoke.


Longer Term Health Risks And Other Effects

Smoking contributes to many diseases that involve years of pain and suffering, or repeated bouts of falling sick over many years. These are some of the problems that can occur:

- lung cancer and many other cancers

- emphysema

- chronic bronchitis

- cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes

- erectile dysfunction in men

- fertility problems

- less healthy babies

- bloodshot eyes, cataracts, and macular degeneration of the eyes leading to blindness

- wrinkles

Keep in mind that these diseases can start sooner in some people than in others. It is true that a few people live to be 90 and still smoke, but they are unusual. Maybe they still would have lived another 10 years, if they had not smoked. The average person who smokes will be sick more often and have a greater risk of developing any of these diseases than if they did not smoke.

The average life expectancy of a smoker is around 8 years less than a non-smoker. However, it does not work out this way in practice. This figure does not mean that an individual smoker will die 8 years sooner than if he did not smoke.

The truth behind the numbers is that some people are more affected by the toxins in cigarettes and other tobacco products than others. So while you hear of some smokers living to a good old age, the people who do develop serious smoking-related diseases die much younger, often in their 40s and 50s. These diseases can cut 30 or 40 years from a person's life.

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