The Real Cost of Tobacco Addiction

Have you ever heard the story of the 95-year-old man who has smoked all his life and isn't about to quit now? The fact is, there are exceptions to the well-known rule that tobacco kills. Unfortunately, many smokers gamble on being 1 of these few exceptions, persisting in that self-deception all the way to the cancer ward.

Are You The Exception?

Almost everyone knows that smoking is a serious health risk. Images of blackened lungs line the walls of school hallways and hospital waiting rooms. Speeches by people who talk through an electronic device because they lost their larynx are seen on TV and in the classroom. But people continue to light up that first cigarette. And second and thousandth.

There are many ways to use tobacco. You can chew it, inhale it through the nose, smoke it in a pipe, or in the form of cigars or cigarettes. In any form it is dangerous, but because smoking cigarettes is the most popular way to consume tobacco, it has also received the most attention from both the medical field and the media.

Poisonous Pleasure

When a smoker inhales a puff of cigarette smoke, the large surface area of the lungs allows a hefty dose of nicotine to pass directly into the blood stream and to the brain's pleasure centers almost immediately. It is this nicotine "hit" that smokers crave. Although nicotine in the bloodstream produces pleasure, in large amounts it is a poison, used as an insecticide in gardens. And that's just the beginning. Unfortunately, there is a lot more to smoke than just nicotine. In fact, there are more than 4,000 chemical substances that make up cigarette smoke, and many of them are toxic.

43 Carcinogenic Substances

Cigarette smoke is composed of 43 carcinogenic substances and more than 400 other toxins, some of which can also be found in wood varnish, nail polish remover, and rat poison. All of these substances accumulate in the body and eventually cause serious damage to the heart, lungs and other organs.

Cancer is the disease most commonly associated with smoking. Smoking is the cause of 90% of lung cancer cases and is related to 30% of all cancer fatalities. Other smoking-related cancers include cancers of the mouth, esophagus, larynx, stomach, pancreas, bladder and kidney. Besides cancer, smoking is also implicated in several other diseases of the lungs. Emphysema and bronchitis are often fatal, and 75% of all deaths from these diseases are linked to smoking.

Second-Hand Smoking

Not surprisingly, smokers have shorter lives than non-smokers. On average, smoking takes 15 years off a person's life span.

Smokers also put other people at risk. The dangers of breathing second-hand smoke have become well known. Smokers harm their loved ones by exposing them to the smoke they exhale. A variety of health problems are related to breathing second-hand smoke. Children are especially susceptible because their internal organs are still developing. Children exposed to second-hand smoke are more vulnerable to sudden infant death syndrome, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, and ear infections.

Smoking can also be dangerous for unborn children. Mothers who smoke are more likely to suffer miscarriages, bleeding and nausea. Babies of smoking mothers are prone to low birth weight and premature birth. These babies are more susceptible to sudden infant death syndrome and may also have lifelong problems with chest infections and asthma.

Give The Gift Of Clean Air

The moral to this story is: If you don't smoke, don't start. If you do smoke, it is never too late to quit. Even those who have smoked for 20 years or more can achieve tremendous and immediate health benefits from giving up the habit. What's more, by quitting smoking, you can give your family the life-giving gift of clean air.

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