Smoking cigarettes raises tobacco users' risks for many health problems and emergencies above the rate for the general nonsmoking public. When combined with individual risk factors, such as genetics and preexisting medical conditions, the chances of developing certain diseases climbs further.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified several major health effects that smokers experience more often than normal. For individuals with heart, lung or immune system issues, or for those who want to start healthy families, the risks involved may make smoking too dangerous a habit.
Heart Health Problems
Smoking speeds up atherosclerosis, or narrowing of the arteries. The associated high cholesterol, blood pressure and heart rate can have serious implications for healthy cardiovascular systems, or disastrous results for those with compromised heart health. The CDC notes that smoking cigarettes increases the risk for coronary heart disease by up to four times the norm.
The 2010 Surgeon General's report relates that smoking also makes blood cells sticky, which can induce clotting. Clots in narrowed blood vessels can sufficiently obstruct blood flow to the heart or brain, causing heart attack or stroke.
Respiratory Damage
Systematic damage to the parts of the bronchi and lungs can obstruct the flow of oxygen in a similar manner. The American Lung Association website describes how tobacco use raises the risk for chronic bronchitis by blocking the airways with mucus, which the impaired respiratory system is unable to flush naturally.
It goes on to note that oxygen transfer is restricted by the collapse of damaged lung tissue, further limiting breathing efficiency. These two health problems, known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), can be fatal. Tobacco users risks for death from COPD may be up to 13 times that of nonsmokers.
Cancer
Smoking cigarettes is known to cause 30 percent of all body cancers, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Among those, tobacco use is attributed to 85 percent of all fatal lung cancers, the CDC reports.
Because the blood carries nicotine and other carcinogens throughout the body, the risk for cancers of the stomach, kidney, pancreas and bladder is higher among smokers. The CDC names the number of cigarettes and years smoking as risk factors that increase smokers' chances of developing cancer.
Reproductive Complications
The surgeon general's 2010 report notes that men and women smokers raise their risk for infertility and transmission of birth defects. Smoking cigarettes or inhaling secondhand smoke raises a woman's risk of premature birth, stillbirth and delivery of a low birth-weight baby. These factors combine to increase the risk for developmental health problems and infant death.
