The health risks from smoking tobacco are many and varied. In 2004 the U.S. Surgeon General's Office added cataracts, periodontitis, osteoporosis and a number of cancers to the known health problems caused by smoking. Cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco present similar degrees of danger. Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona termed smoking the "leading preventable cause of death and disease." Smoking cigarettes, in particular, greatly increases the chances of an early death, shortening normal life spans by about 13.8 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC.
Lung Disease
Men who smoke have 23 times the likelihood of developing lung cancer as nonsmokers; women have 13 times' greater likelihood. Most cases are fatal, with lung cancer producing 159,390 deaths in 2008, as reported by the CDC. Because smokers' lung function declines, health problems such as pneumonia and other respiratory infections prove common.
The American Lung Association notes that smoking cigarettes causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. This progressive disease damages lung tissue and obstructs breathing, often resulting in early deaths. The lung association notes that as much as 90 percent of COPD deaths are attributable to long-term tobacco use.
Heart Disease
The CDC reports that the prevalence of tobacco use has helped to make coronary heart disease the number-one killer in America. Atherosclerosis, or a narrowing of the arteries brought on by smoking cigarettes, sets the stage for many heart health problems. The American Heart Association explains that high cholesterol, high blood pressure and a greater tendency toward blood clotting make potentially fatal coronary events more likely.
Therefore, peripheral arterial disease, angina pectoris, aortic aneurysm, heart attack, heart failure and stroke risks are higher in smokers than in nonsmokers. The surgeon general also notes that contracting periodontitis through tobacco use increases smokers' risks for heart-related diseases even further.
Inability to Quit
Nicotine addiction can prove as difficult to shake as a dependence on heroin, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse or NIDA. People initially become addicted from the pleasurable effects of an increase in dopamine, a neurotransmitter activated by nicotine. Tolerance to nicotine builds quickly, however, so in order to get the same stimulation, smokers must augment their tobacco use.
This increases their chances for lifelong or life-ending health problems. The NIDA reports that fewer than one-tenth of smokers succeed in quitting, and the American Cancer Society notes that it may take 8 to 10 tries to quit smoking cigarettes for good. Because smoking only a few cigarettes can create an addiction to nicotine, never starting to smoke remains the safest choice.
