Every organ of your body is subject to damage by smoking, the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse says. The addictive properties of nicotine add a psychosocial component to the physical health issues associated with smoking. Some people are genetically predisposed to this addiction. Smoking is a habit best avoided if you want to maintain good health.
Health Risks
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Surgeon General says 85 percent of lung cancers in the United States are caused by smoking, with almost a third of all cancer deaths being smoking-related. Smoking damages blood vessels, which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The function of the fallopian tube is adversely affected by smoking and can lead to ectopic pregnancies, low birth weight or miscarriage in women. Smoking also compromises your immune system.
Your Smoke, Your Neighbor's Health
Health expenditures to treat problems caused by second-hand smoke exceed $10 billion, and these problems lead to an approximated 49,000 deaths yearly in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Even low levels of exposure such as those seen with second-hand smoking can quickly impair the lining of your arteries and eventually lead to heart disease. Smoke can also trigger an asthma attack in some people.
The Addiction
About 1,000 teenagers become smokers every day, a statistic explained by the fact that the adolescent body is more sensitive to nicotine and becomes more easily addicted, the Surgeon General says. With cigarettes created for rapid delivery of nicotine from the lungs to the heart and brain, addiction is typically common and difficult to overcome. A number of strategies such as nicotine replacement and other medications have been designed to help people stop smoking and defeat nicotine addiction.
Avoiding Smoking Problems
The introduction of filtered, low-tar and "light" cigarettes has not reduced the negative health impact of smoking. Since there is no "safe" cigarette, avoiding the habit or quitting is the only safe way to avoid smoking-related problems. Smokers who quit return to a non-smoker's low risk level for strokes within two to five years, and there is a significant drop in risk level for heart attack after one year. Ten years after quitting, you will have reduced the probability of dying from lung cancer by half.
