Health

Smoking Can Kill You In 3 Days – Dangerous Effects Of Smoking On The Body

Smoking Can Kill You In 3 Days - Dangerous Effects Of Smoking On The Body

There are several risks associated with smoking, but here are some dangerous effects of smoking on the body.

Smoking occurs when you inhale and exhale smoke from burning plant material wrapped in a cigarette. You light one end of the cigarette and pull smoke into your mouth through the other. It travels down your airways, into your lungs, and then through your bloodstream to your brain and other organs.

This article focuses on smoking tobacco cigarettes, but you can also use cigars, pipes, marijuana (weed/pot), or herbal cigarettes.

Effect Of Smoking On The Body?

Smoking has a wide range of effects, from the appearance of your skin and nails to how your tissues, organs, and DNA function. The effects of smoking on your body begin as soon as you light up a cigarette. Thousands of chemicals released by burning tobacco begin their harmful journey before you even take a puff.

The heat from burning the cigarette releases nicotine and produces tar. When you bring the cigarette to your lips, the tar stains your nails. The smoke dries and irritates your skin, deepening wrinkles. Inhaling smoke through the nose harms nerve endings. Over time, this impairs your sense of smell.

When you take a puff from your cigarette, it passes through a filter. This mostly prevents you from inhaling large particles, but tar, nicotine, and other chemicals can still pass through. Tar stains your teeth, gums, and tongue. It harms your tooth enamel, puts you at risk for tooth decay and gum disease, and impairs your ability to taste foods you enjoy.

Tar coats your throat and vocal cords as it moves toward your lungs. This might cause you to cough. Tar and hydrogen cyanide (a poisonous gas) pass through your airways, paralyzing your cilia. Cilia are hair-like strands that trap and sweep germs and other harmful particles out of your lungs, similar to the bristles on a broom.

When smoke enters your lungs, it damages the small air sacs known as alveoli. This can cause emphysema, a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Carbon monoxide in the smoke passes through your alveoli and into your bloodstream. It depletes oxygen in your red blood cells, starving your cells and tissues. A lack of oxygen can cause shortness of breath. Your cells sound the alarm to alert your body that you require more oxygen, but this causes inflammation and mucus to form, making it even more difficult to breathe.