Smoking cigarettes is a popular habit in the U.S. and worldwide. More than 45 million Americans are smokers, according to the American Heart Association, accounting for more than 23 percent of all American men and more than 18 percent of women. While these numbers may be surprising at face value, they're especially eye-opening when you consider the various, proven negative health effects of smoking cigarettes.
Cancer
Of the 4000-plus chemicals found in tobacco smoke, cancer has been proven to be caused by at least 60. Cigarette smoking can cause a bevy of different types of cancer, and the American Cancer Society estimates that 30 percent of cancer deaths are the result of smoking. The type of cancer that is most commonly associated with cigarettes is lung cancer -- and for good reason. According to the American Cancer Society, 87 percent of lung cancer deaths are the result of smoking.
Heart Disease
Smoking also increases your risk of coronary heart disease. More than 126,000 Americans died annually between 2000 and 2004 from ischemic heart disease attributed to cigarette smoking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking causes your heart to require additional oxygen, thickens your arteries and reduces blood flow to your heart. The nicotine in cigarettes also causes high blood pressure, which may lead to heart attack.
Effects on Children
The American Lung Association reports that 20 to 30 percent of cases of babies born underweight are the result of mothers who smoke during pregnancy. The nicotine and carbon monoxide contained in cigarettes lessen the amount of oxygen provided to an unborn baby by constricting the mother's blood vessels.
Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3400 deaths yearly due to lung cancer and between 22,700 and 69,600 deaths annually due to heart failure, according to the American Lung association. Also, between 150,000 and 300,000 cases occur yearly of children contracting upper respiratory infections due to exposure to secondhand smoke.
Impotency
One of the lesser-known effects of smoking is that it can cause impotency in men. The publication "Preventive Medicine" found that the six largest studies of smoking and impotence all revealed higher percentages of impotence in smokers compared to non-smokers. The review also showed that 40 percent of impotent men were smokers.
References
- American Heart Association: Cigarette Smoking Statistics
- "Preventive Medicine"; The link between smoking and impotence: two decades of evidence;Tengs TO, Osgood ND; June 2001
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Annual Deaths Attributable to Cigarette Smoking---United States, 2000--2004
- American Lung Association: Secondhand Smoke
- American Cancer Society: Cigarette Smoking
