Respiratory illness has become a common phenomenon for many years now. One reason behind this fatal disease is that people tend to get respiratory conditions genetically. Also, there’s no denying the fact that raised amount of air pollutants and unhealthy habits such as smoking contribute to lung diseases and other life-threatening diseases such as cancer.
According to the reports of Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking causes direful diseases that kill more than 480,000 people in the U.S. each year. Chronic respiratory diseases like Asthma make the inhalation and exhalation process harder for the lungs. It’s majorly because the cigarette smoke irritates air passages and can trigger sudden and severe asthma attacks. Asthma is a serious health condition that affects millions of people around the globe. Smoking is proven to only make it worse.
Moreover, smoking is directly responsible for almost 90% of lung cancer and COPD deaths. Nicotine is one of the harmful chemicals present in tobacco. This is considered to be the most addictive drug that makes smokers to keep up with smoking. Apart from nicotine, there are thousands of other chemicals that smokers inhale in while smoking a cigarette. Smoking is so harmful that it affects nearly every organ in the body while ruining the overall health in general.
Chemicals In Cigarettes
Below are some harmful chemicals present in a cigarette that are known to be responsible for tarnishing our health:
Tar: The most toxic chemical compound present in the cigarette directly affects smoker’s lungs and gradually damages them. It majorly includes various particles suspended in tobacco smoke. These particles contain chemicals that act as cancer-causing agents inside the human body.
Carbon monoxide: An odourless gas that cannot be seen or smelled; it is hazardous and it takes the place of oxygen in the blood. This gas is emitted whenever any carbon-based substance is burned. Exposure to moderate and high levels of carbon monoxide for long periods increases the risk of heart disease.
Hydrogen cyanide: This is yet another chemical that impacts the normal functioning of lungs by hindering lung clearance system. It makes harmful substances from smoke to enter lungs. These chemicals are hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, organic acids, phenols and oxidising agents that further damage the lungs. Oxidizing chemicals are highly reactive chemicals that can profoundly damage the heart muscles and blood vessels. They come in contact with cholesterol, thus, leading to the build-up of fatty material on artery walls. They further lead to heart disease, stroke and blood vessel disease. Presence of metals like lead and radioactive compounds act as another threat as they are known to be carcinogenic.
Apart from paving way for respiratory disorders, smoking is also a direct contributor to cancer and reproductive issues. Studies have shown that smoking can cause ectopic pregnancy in women, wherein when a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the uterus. The egg fails to survive and, if left untreated, can be life-threatening for the mother. Smoking also impacts fertility, making it more difficult to get pregnant. Smoking is strictly prohibited for the pregnant ladies as it can cause babies to be born prematurely/or with a low birth-weight. Moreover, babies born too early or too small have an increased risk of health complications and even death.
Cancer, the disease, is known as the leading cause of death worldwide and can have its emergence from smoking. Smoking is said to cause cancer as it damages our DNA, including key genes that protect us against cancer. Most of the chemicals found in cigarettes have been proven to cause DNA damage, these chemicals are benzene, polonium-210, benzo(a)pyrene and nitrosamines. The damage in DNA increases the chances of serious damage to our health as it gradually turns the damaged cells deadly by making them cancerous.
Smoking also affects our immunity by making it hard to handle toxic chemicals that normally people with healthy lungs and blood can bear. It becomes difficult to neutralise or remove toxins and can make the immune systems less effective. While smoking has been linked to lung cancer, there also exist other common cancers that are said to exceedingly being caused due to smoking. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, cervical cancer is among those cancers causally related to smoking. Smoking interferes with incidence and prevalence of HPV infection and is associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and invasive CC. However, most of the people are still unaware of the deadly consequences of second-hand smoke or passive smoking can cause.
Non-smokers who are frequently exposed to second-hand smoke too have an increased risk of lung cancer. Passive smokers are 20-30% more likely to develop lung cancer. Passive smoking can cause premature death in non-smokers. Various reports suggest that second-hand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, with 69 cancer-causing chemicals.
Considering the unhealthy and destructive effects of smoking, it becomes pertinent for a smoker to refer to medication and solutions that can help him get rid of this life-threatening habit. There exist some over-the-counter medicines that can help you stop smoking. Nicotine patch, nicotine gum, nicotine lozenge, are some over-the-counter medicines that one can go for. Also, prescription medicines like nicotine nasal spray, nicotine inhaler comes to rescue for people trying to quit smoking. However, people already suffering from breathing disorders should pay a particular attention to the levels of air pollution called particulates — tiny solid or liquid particles — in the environment and should limit their outdoor exposure when levels are high. Wearing a mask to avoid the excessive amount of dust, fumes, smoke, gases, vapors or mists is a must that people should never forget to go for.