Cigarette smoking is an activity that exposes your body to a variety of dangerous or cancer-causing substances, including formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene and cyanide. Even if you smoke only briefly or do not directly inhale cigarette smoke, this exposure can shorten your life or increase your risks for the development of a variety of serious or life-threatening ailments, such as lung cancer and heart disease.
Basics
Cigarette smoke also contains acetylene, methanol and the poisonous gases carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide, according to the American Cancer Society. The tobacco used to make cigarettes also contains varying amounts of radioactive material. When you smoke, the small amounts of this material contained in a given cigarette accumulate over time, directly exposing your lungs to potentially substantial amounts of damaging radiation.
Death
Roughly 440,000 people in the U.S. die prematurely from cigarette smoking each year, according to the American Heart Association. Half of smoking deaths result from cancer, the American Cancer Society reports. The remaining deaths result from causes that include bronchitis, heart disease, emphysema, aneurysms and stroke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if you are male, cigarette smoking will shorten your life by an average of 13.2 years. Women who smoke cigarettes shorten their lifespans by an average of 14.5 years. Male and female smokers have a greater chance of dying between their mid 30s and late 60s than nonsmokers.
Systemic Damage
The chemical effects of cigarettes damage almost every organ system in your body, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Examples of affected organs include your lungs, heart, blood vessels, bones, eyes, mouth and digestive and reproductive systems. Even if you only smoke occasionally or in small amounts, damage to your heart and blood vessels can increase your risks for developing coronary heart disease, hardening of your arteries and peripheral artery disease. In turn, these conditions increase your chances of experiencing a heart attack or stroke. If you have diabetes or use oral contraceptives, your risks for these conditions rise even higher.
COPD
If you smoke, chronic bronchitis can trigger long-term overproduction of mucus in your lungs, the American Cancer Society explains. In time, this mucus buildup will produce damaging lung inflammation and persistent coughing. Potential results of this process include lung scarring and infection. If smoking triggers emphysema, you will gradually lose lung capacity as the air sacs inside your lungs become increasingly inefficient. Together, chronic bronchitis and emphysema comprise the main forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, which is the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. Smokers account for more than 75 percent of all COPD-related deaths.
Considerations
Cigarette smoke directly damages the surface of your skin, the American Cancer Society notes. If you smoke while pregnant, the nicotine and other harmful substances you inhale will pass directly to your baby and diminish access to oxygen and vital nutrients. Children of smokers may be smaller, shorter and have decreased learning speed when compared to children of nonsmokers.
