Among the dozens of physical risks caused by smoking tobacco are serious and potentially life-threatening health problems. These aren't limited to tobacco users but accompany the ingestion of secondhand smoke, with children being especially vulnerable to adverse effects.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, nearly 50 percent of smokers themselves, however, will die from a disease related to their habit. Smoking cigarettes, cigars or pipes increases the chance for death many times beyond the average risk to nonsmoking individuals.
Heart Attack
Smoking reduces normal blood circulation by constricting the arteries and causing blood platelets to become stickier and subject to clotting. This can keep oxygenated blood from reaching the heart, resulting in angina pectoris pain and possibly myocardial infarction, or heart attack. The American Heart Association notes that smoking cigarettes is one of the main causes of coronary heart disease, which includes heart attack and is the greatest cause of death in the United States.
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer caused by smoking cigarettes, and most cases are fatal. The carcinogens contained in tobacco damage human cellular DNA to set the cancer growth process in motion. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that tobacco users on average have 20 times the risk of developing lung cancer than do nonsmokers. The normal risk climbs with the number of cigarettes and the number of years that a person smokes.
Other Cancers
Tobacco use sends more than 50 carcinogens throughout the body via the blood. In fact, the CDC reports that smokers' risks for cancer-related health problems include leukemia, or cancer of the blood. Other cancer risks directly tied to smoking are greater-than-normal incidences of mouth, larynx, throat, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, cervix and uterus cancer in smokers. Cancer or all types is the second leading cause of death in the United States.
Stroke
The same mechanism that causes heart attack can create blood clots that obstruct oxygen delivery to the brain. This health problem occurs in tobacco users two to four times more often than in nonsmokers, causing stroke. The CDC reports that stroke is the number three killer in the United States.
Respiratory Disease
The fourth leading cause of death in the United States is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking cigarettes causes these diseases and increases the risk of dying from COPD by 12 to 13 times the norm, as per the CDC.
Infant Death
The way in which health problems from secondhand smoke lead to death in infants is not fully understood, but the causal association is proven. According to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, babies' exposure to secondhand smoke doubles the usual risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. This unexplained sudden death is the number one cause of U.S. infant mortality.
References
- International Agency for Research on Cancer: Harm From Smoking
- American Heart Association: Cigarette Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease
- Centers for Disease Control (CDC): Smoking Health Effects FAQs
- CDC: Health Effects of Smoking
- Maine Department of Health and Human Services: Fetal Exposure to Secondhand Smoke
