Smoking is a dangerous habit that damages almost every organ in your body, according to MedlinePlus. The practice not only causes such life-threatening medical problems as cancer and lung disease among smokers, but it also endangers the health of pregnant women's unborn babies and nonsmokers in the vicinity of smokers. Although most smokers want to stop their destructive habit, according to the American Cancer Society, achieving that goal can be notoriously difficult.
Nicotine's Role
Cigarette smoke contains the highly addictive, mood-altering drug nicotine, which is responsible for smoking dependency, according to the American Cancer Society. Nicotine influences the brain and the central nervous system within seconds of exposure, prompting smokers to experience a slight adrenaline rush, calmness and initial alertness. However, the positive effects disappear within minutes, causing smokers to light up another cigarette in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, irritability and fatigue. Other physical effects of nicotine include dizziness, decreased blood flow to the feet and legs, increased resting heart rate, nausea and reduced skin temperature. The American Cancer Society also cautions that nicotine may contribute to heart disease and stroke, as do the small amounts of carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke.
Toxins' Role
Although nicotine causes addiction to smoking and is poisonous in large quantities, the drug does not cause the cancers that are so closely associated with smoking, according to the American Cancer Society. The cancer-causing substances in cigarettes consist of approximately 60 toxic chemicals present in cigarette smoke, according to the National Institutes of Health. Cigarette smoke also contains the substance tar, which causes both cancer and lung damage. Types of cancer associated with tar and toxins in cigarette smoke include cancer of the esophagus, larynx, lungs and mouth. Smoking also increases the risk of heart disease, lung disease, liver problems and ulcers.
Secondhand Smoke
Alternatively called environmental tobacco smoke, secondhand smoke refers to both mainstream and sidestream smoke. Mainstream smoke consists of the cigarette smoke that cigarette users exhale, while sidestream smoke consists of the smoke that burning cigarettes produce. Secondhand smoke exposes nearby nonsmokers to roughly 250 dangerous chemicals, 50 of which cause cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. The toxic chemicals include arsenic, benzene, cadmium, nickel and vinyl chloride.
Misconceptions
Several persistent myths about smoking claim certain types of cigarettes are less addictive and, therefore, healthier or safer. For example, some people believe that all-natural, hand-rolled, herbal, low-nicotine, low-tar, menthol or so-called light cigarettes have less of an impact on health than commercial or regular cigarettes. In reality, the allegedly safer types of cigarettes are just as dangerous as conventional cigarettes, and sometimes more dangerous, according to the American Cancer Society. For instance, they cause comparable rates of lung cancer, and sometimes greater rates of other types of cancer, and they are equally difficult or even harder to stop using. The reason is because supposedly safer cigarettes often fool smokers into adopting riskier behavior, such as inhaling deeper or smoking more frequently.
Statistics
Smoking cigarettes contributes to about 443,000 deaths annually in the United States as of 2008, which equals approximately 20 percent of all deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, the government agency states more people die each year due to tobacco-related medical problems than alcohol use, HIV, illegal drug use, motor vehicle accidents, murders and suicides combined. Smoking also causes 90 percent of the lung cancer cases in men and 80 percent of those in women, and it increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease and suffering a stroke two to four times.
