Smoking may start out as a simple practice that provides temporary pleasure. But functionality throughout the body is affected from the start. The smoker, who often realizes the health hazards involved because of tobacco products, soon feels the short-term effects inside the body. The addictive properties in tobacco make it hard to stop smoking and end these effects.
Heart Dysfunction
The body responds immediately to the introduction of nicotine, the American Heart Association (AHA) notes. The chemical causes an immediate increase in blood pressure, heart rate and blood flow from the heart, the beginning of heart dysfunction. Impaired functioning is not felt immediately, but the effects on blood pressure, heart and blood flow are immediate. Carbon monoxide in smoke enters the bloodstream when first smoking. Within a few days or a few weeks after smoking, carbon monoxide noticeably reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood. Because of smoking, the body starts to demand more oxygen, but the blood can only supply a certain amount. Carbon monoxide begins to damage the artery walls making it easier for the buildup of fatty deposits that clog arteries and contribute to heart disease.
Poor Lung Function
Smokers may soon begin to notice they have a shortness of breath. Poor lung function is one of the many short-term effects of smoking, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Beginning smokers will tire easily during physical activity within days or weeks of smoking. Smoking also increases symptoms of coughing and bringing up phlegm from the respiratory passageways. Coughing starts immediately following the first cigarette for many smokers.
Appearance
Premature aging of the skin is a common short-term effect of smoking, according to the ACS. The constant smoke can produce stained teeth and bad breath. Smokers also suffer common short-term effects such as loss of sense of smell and taste as they become regular smokers.
Addiction
Many smokers start smoking because of the pleasurable effects it brings them. The nicotine inhaled into the lungs eventually gets into the bloodstream and is carried throughout organs in the body, including the brain. The nicotine from smoke gets to the brain faster than drugs that are injected, according to the ACS. Chemicals in the brain send signals that more of it is needed. A first-time smoker often has a desire for another cigarette a short time after the first one. The addiction can begin the first day. The feeling becomes more intense as smoking continues. As a result, the smoker needs to smoke more to get the same pleasurable effect and increases the number of cigarettes smoked. This desire often hooks a smoker within days.
Withdrawal
Withdrawal symptoms are a sign that a smoker is hooked on nicotine. Quitting can prove difficult following even after only a few days of smoking. But it is not as tough as it will be later on. Quitting when you first notice a craving for nicotine may cause some minor withdrawal symptoms, because the brain still wants more nicotine. But withdrawal difficulties will get worse the more and the longer you smoke because of the increased desire for nicotine. Nicotine can stay in the body for days after quitting, according to the ACS. Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal may include irritability, anxiety, anger, inability to concentration and restlessness, the AHA notes. Symptoms in the early stages of smoking are signals to stay off cigarettes now before withdrawal becomes more intense.
