December 15, 2007
Dangerous Effects of Cigarette Smoking
Many people today are vaguely aware of the many dangerous effects of cigarette smoking, from lung cancer to bronchitis. However, the real truth is that there are many, many parts of one’s body, many members of one’s family, and many aspects of one’s life that are hit hard by the effects of cigarette smoking.
Sure, we all know about lung cancer and bronchitis. But did you know that cigarette smoking is the number one contributor to heart attacks as well? Did you also know that many types of cancers are also thought to be caused by the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, including liver cancer, bladder cancer, cancer of the larynx, cancer of the throat, cancer of the mouth and tongue, esophageal cancer, cancer of the large intestine, and even cancer of the bloodstream?
Cigarettes are not just rolled tobacco, as many people innocently think. The tobacco industry purposely adds ingredients in order to increase tobacco’s addictiveness. There are approximately 4000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, many of them toxic.
The ingredients in cigarettes affect everything from the internal functioning of organs to the efficiency of the body's immune system. The effects of cigarette smoking are destructive and widespread, covering your entire body from head to toe.
Setting aside your own personal health, have you ever thought about the effects of cigarette smoking on your pocketbook? Someone who smokes a pack a day will wind up spending over $700 every year on cigarettes.
That’s an entire month’s rent, two months worth of groceries, three or four car payments, or the cost of a very nice flat-screen television. Not to mention how that money could grow in a nice savings account!
The effects of cigarette smoking also reach out to those around you as well. Those who are exposed to second-hand smoke inhale about 15% the amount of nicotine as those who are active smokers, so for every ten cigarettes you have around your children, they may as well have smoked one a half cigarettes themselves.
Even pets have been found to suffer from increased health problems due to their owners smoking! Many have respiratory diseases and cancers, all a part of the effects of cigarette smoking.
So if you smoke, it’s time to quit. It’s time to think about how bad this habit really is, how it really touches your life and the lives of those around you. There are absolutely no health benefits, there is no upside, there is nothing positive about the effects of cigarette smoking.
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