Smokers pay a price for their habit that reaches beyond the cost of cigarettes and the inconvenience of being excluded from certain restaurants and businesses. According to the American Lung Association, 393,000 Americans die from smoking-related diseases each year. If you're looking for reasons to quit, consider the hazards associated with tobacco smoking.
Cancer
The American Lung Association reports that cigarette smoking causes 90 percent of deaths from lung cancer. In addition, the U.S. Surgeon General reports that cigarette smoking has been linked to kidney, pancreatic, bladder, esophageal, throat and stomach cancer, as well as leukemia.
Lung Disease
Smoking can cause other lung diseases besides lung cancer. Eighty to 90 percent of all cases of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease are causes by cigarette smoking, according to the American Lung Association. Smokers are more likely to suffer from emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smokers are also slower to recover from respiratory infections
Heart Disease
Smoking increases your risk of heart attack and stroke. Oregon Health and Science University reports that cardiovascular disease causes one out of every five smoking related deaths. If you're under 50 and smoke, you have a greater risk of a heart attack than non-smokers your age. If you're a woman and you take oral contraceptives, you multiply your risk of having a stroke if you also smoke. According to Oregon Health and Science University, smoking raises your blood pressure and heart rate, reduces blood flow and makes it easier for cholesterol to build up in your arteries, all of which contribute to your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Premature Aging
Smoking causes the skin to wrinkle and sag. The University of Alabama Medicine notes that the two biggest causes of wrinkles are sun exposure and smoking. Smokers can look up to 20 years older than non-smokers. Nicotine dries out the skin, making wrinkles more likely. It also inhibits circulation, and contributes to damage to collagen---the substance that makes skin elastic and youthful.
Shortened Life Span
The U.S. Surgeon General reports that men who smoke live an average of 13.4 years less than non-smokers, while women smokers live 14.5 fewer years.
Effects on Children
Women who spoke during pregnancy deliver lower birth-weight babies, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Children of smokers also suffer from more respiratory and ear infections, and are at a greater risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
