Cigarettes contain many poisons including tar, nicotine and carcinogens. In a 2006 report, the Surgeon General called smoking "the single greatest avoidable cause of death and disease." Cigarette smoke not only affects the smoker but those around the smoker. Inhaling secondhand smoke has been shown to be just as dangerous as smoking. There is no safe level of exposure.
Lung Disease
A "smoker's cough" is just the beginning of the destruction that smoking causes in the lungs. When a smoker's lungs are viewed at autopsy, they are black with tar that has been inhaled over the years. The tar lines the small air sacs called alveoli and impairs the exchange of oxygen. The carcinogens that a smoker inhales invade the lining of the bronchial tubes and the air sacs, causing lung cancers. Emphysema, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia and other lung diseases are common in smokers. Emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also called COPD, can sentence a person to life-long oxygen therapy because the air sacs are severely damaged. Long-term smokers are doomed to a life of poor oxygen exchange at best and possible lung cancer as a worst case scenario. According to the National Institutes of Health, more people die of lung cancer than from colon, prostate or breast cancer collectively.
Heart Disease
Nicotine causes vasoconstriction or shrinking of the arteries. Smoking also damages the inside lining of the arteries. This damage causes fatty deposits to line the arteries. When the damaged arteries are made smaller by nicotine, the pathway for blood that carries oxygen is blocked. The coronary arteries are small arteries and susceptible to damage. When these arteries are blocked, heart attacks occur and the heart muscle subsequently dies, according to the National Institutes of Health. According to the Smoke Free Kids Campaign, smoking causes 21 percent of heart-related deaths in the United States.
Other Effects
Smokers lack stamina because of the carbon monoxide they inhale through cigarettes. Carbon monoxide impairs the blood's ability to carry oxygen which leads to chronic fatigue. Women who smoke can have irregular periods, painful menses and early onset menopause, according to the Tobacco Free Kids Campaign. Premature wrinkling of the skin is associated with smoking. Researchers in Israel published data in the July 2009 journal, Science Daily, indicating that smoking causes brain damage and can lower IQ scores.
