Why smoking can kill you- Slideshow

Smoking Kills

Statutory warnings on cigarette packs shouldn't be taken lightly.
Smoking does kill you, slowly and over several years.
Research studies link the harmful effects of smoking to cancer, especially of the lung, heart disease, and respiratory diseases like emphysema which slowly rot the lungs.
Parents who smoke expose their children to risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), respiratory diseases like asthma, and long-term behavioral and mental difficulties.
What are you inhaling?

Ever wondered what a cigarette contains?
Your regular ciggie plays host to over 4000 chemicals, some of which are life-threatening in their toxicity.
Cigarettes are a cocktail of poisonous gases, in other words, the 'tar' in the smoke.
The chemicals found in tar include benzene, arsenic, phenol, carbon monoxide, cadmium, cyanide, lead, methanol, naphthalene, nitrogen oxide, nicotine and acetone (also found in nail paint removers).
Short-term effects of smoking

As soon as they start puffing, smokers experience shortness of breath, excessive phlegm formation, coughing, wheezing etc.

Smoking continuously through the days also results in yellowing of teeth and tooth decay and the constant presence of smoke-filled, bad breath.

It also causes heartburn, stomach ulcers and dental problems like gum bleeding, mouth ulcers and (in women) the early onset of facial wrinkles.
But cigarettes kill slowly

But cigarettes kill slowly and the long-term dangers of smoking are deadly.

Nicotine raises blood pressure and makes blood clot easily. Carbon monoxide from tobacco smoke deoxygenates blood and encourages plaque formation on artery walls.

Blocked blood vessels result in gangrene (and subsequent amputations), low fitness, slow down in blood flow to skin, hands and feet and hikes risk of stroke and heart attack.
Long-term effects
The "silent killer" from tobacco smoke is COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Most smokers don not realize that they are suffering from lung complications until is too late.
COPD includes a host of debilitating diseases like chronic and asthmatic bronchitis and emphysema.
In addition, smoking also dangerously impacts the eyes, bones (increasing risk of osteoporosis), skin, stomach, accelerates macular degeneration and hampers reproductive ability.
Dangers of smoking in Women

Smoking is particularly dangerous for women since they have lesser lung capacity than their male counterparts, thus increasing their risk of respiratory complications.

Women smokers also put themselves at higher risk of osteoporosis, cancers such as of the cervix and vulva, and heart disease.

Smoking is also known to be responsible for irregular menstruation, infertility and early onset of menopause.
Smoking kills from the womb

Women smokers also put their children at increased risk of health complication, right from birth through life.

Chemicals from cigarettes reach the fetus through the blood stream.

Risks of smoking during pregnancy involve preterm delivery, low birth weight, miscarriage, and neonatal death.
Smoking kills from the womb

Nicotine levels in such newborns are often similar to those in adults.

Long-term effects in children include attention deficit disorders, other learning and behavioral disorders, disruptive behavior, and cot deaths (SIDS).

In women who smoke while taking oral contraceptives, the risk of stroke, heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases increases a whopping ten fold!
The Cross-bones

Remember, smoking kills not only your health and well-being, but also that of others, including your children.

Don't take the cross-bones lightly.

Stub out that cigarette. Start to live healthy.

Smoking Risk Calculator

Do you smoke cigarettes daily? Use medindia smoking risk calculator and calculate your reduced Life Span due to ...

Check Your Prostate Gland

Self-assessment online questionnaire that gives an early warning for enlarged prostate gland that maybe due to Benign or cancerous ...

Small Intestine Biopsy

Encyclopedia section of medindia gives meaning to some of the words, for small intestine biopsy, in the ...

Smoking And Tobacco

Encyclopedia section of medindia briefs you about the History of ...

How to Quit Smoking

Tired of people asking you to stop smoking around them? Don't want to be ordered around by public smoking bans? Simple steps that help you to quit ...

Alcohol	Alcohol - Benefits and Harms	Anti-ageing Foods	ASTHMA
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder	Bad Foods that May Still Be Good for Weight Loss	Beauty Tips for Winter	Benefits of Laughter
Best Foods That Aid Digestion	Bioterrorism	Cancer Prevention thro' Lifestyle Changes	Caring for Alzheimers disease patients
Celiac Disease	Control Blood Sugar in 7 Ways	Daily Hygiene Tips	Dealing with Menopause
Detanning Skin with Home Remedies	Diet and Nutrition for Stress Management	Diet for Obstructive Lung Disease	Easy Ways to Beat Anxiety and Stress
Fast Foods	Food to Boost Sports Performance	Foods for Better Eye Health	Foods Inducing Sound Sleep
Foods That Boost Men's Health	Foods that Can Lower Your High Blood Pressure	Foods that Can Save Your Heart	Foods that Fight Cancer
Foods That Fight Pain	Foods that Improve Anemia	Foods That Stain your Teeth	Foods to Avoid in Gout
Foods to Avoid in Kidney Failure	Foods to Lower Cholesterol and Heart Disease	Health Insurance	Home Remedies for Food Poisoning
How to Handle Depression	How to Handle Insect Bites?	How to Handle Snake Bite	How to look tall
How to Lose Weight?	How to Prevent Hair Fall	How to Quit Smoking	How to Take Temperature
Insulin Injections for Diabetes	Interstitial Cystitis / Painful Bladder Syndrome	Leukemia / Blood Cancer	Nine Wonder Foods to Beat Diabetes
ORGAN DONATION	Pregnancy Diabetes Mellitus	Sleeping Disorders	Stress Busters
Super Foods for Women	Superfoods In Your Diet	Ten Super Foods to Boost your Brain Power	Tips to Control Obesity in Children
Tips For Pregnant Women	Tips to Live With an Overactive Bladder (OAB)	Top Anti Aging Tips	Top Foods for Strong Bones
Top Ten Foods for Healthy Hair	Top Ten Foods to Boost Your Mood	Top Ten Ways to Cure Hangover	Top Vegetables and Fruits for Healthy Diet
Type 2 Diabetes	Types of Alcohol	Urinary Stone Prevention - Dos & Don'ts	Ways To Boost Your Immune System
Weight Gain Shockers	Why smoking can kill you	Worst Foods in Your Fridge	Nobel Prize in Medicine 2005 - 2009
Nobel Prize in Medicine 2000 - 2004

Blood Vessels harvested from Ostriches	SARS: Deadly Virus	Living with HIV	Ovarian Cancer
Maternal Mortality	Freezing Stem Cells for the Future	Antibiotic Drug Abuse	Breast Implants under Scrutiny
E.coli - Infection	Caesarean Births in Asia	HIV Regional Data	Polio Around the World

Comments should be on the topic and should not be abusive. Comments are normally moderated and are reviewed after they are posted.
* Your comment can be maximum of 2500 characters
	I agree to the terms and conditions
Your comments are automatically posted once they are submitted. All comments are however constantly reviewed for spam and irrelevant material (such as product or personal advertisements, email addresses, telephone numbers and website address). Such insertions do not conform to our policy and 'Terms of Use' and are either deleted or edited and republished. Please keep your comments brief and relevant.This section may also have questions seeking help. If you have the information you are welcome to respond, but please ensure that the information so provided is genuine and not misleading.

Become a member

Health Encyclopedia A-Z

Health Topics A-Z

Health News A-Z

Health Calculators A-Z

Drugs A-Z

Health Animations A-Z

Baby Names A-Z

Search Doctors by City/State A-Z

Why smoking can kill you - Slideshow

Related Links

Smoking Risk Calculator

Check Your Prostate Gland

Small Intestine Biopsy

Smoking And Tobacco

How to Quit Smoking

Latest Animations

Bladder

Consumers

Medical Professionals

Medical Students

Directories