Do you have any idea which smoking-related disease is the number one cause of death among smokers?

If you're
thinking it's lung cancer or COPD/emphysema, you're wrong. While both of these smoking-related diseases do claim
a lot of lives, it is heart disease that that holds the top slot in the list of diseases that kill smokers.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States today, and the leading cause of death among
smokers. And, on a global level, researchers report that there were 1,690,000 premature deaths from cardiovascular
disease among smokers in the year 2000. In contrast, there were approximately 850,000 lung cancer deaths during
the same year, and 118,000 COPD deaths from smoking in 2001, worldwide.
Smoking is hard on the heart, but the fact is, tobacco use plays a role in a multitude of diseases that ultimately lead
to disability and/or death. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds; 200 of which are known to
be poisonous, and upwards of 60 have been identified as carcinogens. Viewed in that light, it's no wonder that the
effects of smoking are so widespread and destructive.

Let's take a look at how cigarette smoke affects our bodies, from head to toe. You may be surprised at some of the
ways smoking has a negative impact on our health. 

Hair:

 Smell and staining

Brain and Mental Effects:
 Stroke
 Addiction/nicotine withdrawal
 Altered brain chemistry
 Anxiety about harm caused by smoking
Eyes:
 Eyes that sting, water and blink more
 Macular degeneration
 Cataracts
Nose:
 Less sense of smell
Thyroid
 Graves Disease
 Thyroid Disease
Skin:
 Wrinkles
 Premature aging
Teeth:
 Discoloration and stains
 Plaque
 Loose teeth
 Gum disease (gingivitis)
Mouth and Throat:
 Cancers of the lips, mouth, throat and larynx
 Cancer of the esophagus
 Sore throat
 Reduced sense of taste
 Breath smells of smoke
Hands:
 Poor circulation(cold fingers)
 Peripheral vascular disease
 Tar stained fingers
Respiration and Lungs:
 Lung Cancer
 COPD (includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema)
 Cough and sputum
 Shortness of breath
 Colds and flu
 Pneumonia
 Asthma
 Complicates Tuberculosis
Heart:
 Harms, blocks and weakens arteries of the heart
 Heart attack
Liver:
 Cancer
Abdomen:
 Stomach and duodenal ulcers
 Cancer of stomach, pancreas and colon
 Aortic aneurysm
Kidneys and bladder:
 Kidney cancer
 Bladder cancer
Bones:
 Osteoporosis
 Spine and hip fractures
Spine:
 Degenerative Disc Disease
Male reproduction:
 Sperm: deformity, loss of motility, reduced number
 Infertility
 Impotence
Female reproduction:
 Period pains
 Earlier menopause
 Cancer of cervix
 Infertility and delay in conception
Blood:
 Leukemia
Legs and Feet:
 Gangrene
 Peripheral vascular disease
 Beurger Disease
Immune System:
 Weakened immune system
The effects of smoking hold additional risks for women. Those who smoke throughout their pregnancies increase the
risk of:
 Spontaneous abortion/miscarriage
 Ectopic pregnancy
 Abruptio placentae
 Placenta previa
 Premature rupture of the membranes
 Premature birth
Risks to the fetus include:
 Smaller infant(for gestational age)
 Stillborn infant
 Birth defects, e.g. congenital limb reduction
 Increased nicotine receptors in baby's brain
 Increased likelihood of child smoking as a teenager
 Possible predisposition to adult anxiety disorders
As long as this list of diseases known to be associated with smoking is, it is incomplete. We don't yet fully
understand all of the dangers that cigarette smoke presents, but research continues, bringing us new discoveries
seemingly by the day.

One thing is certain: Cigarettes snuff out life at an alarming rate. Statistics tell us that upwards of half of long-term
smokers will die a smoking-related death. And globally, that presently translates to nearly 5 million deaths a year.
Put another way, someone loses their life to smoking every 8 seconds somewhere in the world.

If you currently smoke, use this information to help you see your smoking habit for what it is - a deadly addiction
that you can live without. The tools here at About.com Smoking Cessation are designed to help you learn
what nicotine addiction involves and what it takes to quit smoking.
 Your Quit Smoking Toolbox
Also, stop in and visit our support forum here at About.com Smoking Cessation. This very active community of
people quitting tobacco has new members joining daily, and the support is some of the best I've seen anywhere
online, or in real life, for that matter.
 Smoking Cessation Support Forum
Browse through and read messages as a guest, or register (free) to post comments of your own.

As humans, we are incredibly resilient. While not all smoking damage is reversible, so much can be healed, even
after years of smoking.

 After the Last Cigarette

Don't ever think it's too late for you to quit smoking, and please...don't waste any more of your life on cigarettes.
Smoking offers you absolutely nothing of value.

Take back your life. You deserve the freedom and long-lasting benefits that smoking cessation brings.

The effects of smoking on human health are serious and in many cases, deadly. There are approximately
4000 chemicals in cigarettes, hundreds of which are 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.

Smoking Effects on the Human Body

 Toxic ingredients in cigarette smoke travel throughout the body, causing damage in several different ways.
 Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds after smoke is inhaled. It has been found in every part of the
body and in breast milk.
 Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells, preventing affected cells from carrying a full
load of oxygen.
 Cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) in tobacco smoke damage important genes that control the growth of
cells, causing them to grow abnormally or to reproduce too rapidly.
 The carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene binds to cells in the airways and major organs of smokers.
 Smoking affects the function of the immune system and may increase the risk for respiratory and other
infections.
 There are several likely ways that cigarette smoke does its damage. One is oxidative stress that mutates
DNA, promotes atherosclerosis, and leads to chronic lung injury. Oxidative stress is thought to be the general
 mechanism behind the aging process, contributing to the development of cancer, cardiovascular disease,
and COPD.
 The body produces antioxidants to help repair damaged cells. Smokers have lower levels of antioxidants in
their blood than do nonsmokers.
 Smoking is associated with higher levels of chronic inflammation, another damaging process that may
result in oxidative stress.

A cigarette (French: "small cigar", from cigare + -ette) is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves

wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper forsmoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed
to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in
some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well. Most modern manufactured cigarettes
are filtered and include reconstituted tobacco and other additives.[1]

The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette but can apply to similar
devices containing other herbs, such ascannabis. A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its
smaller size, use of processed leaf, and paper wrapping, which is normally white, though other
colors are occasionally available. Cigars are typically composed entirely of whole-leaf tobacco.

Rates of cigarette smoking vary widely, and have changed considerably over the course of
history – since cigarettes were first widely used in the mid-19th century. While rates of smoking
have over time leveled off or declined in the developed world, they continue to rise indeveloping
nations.[2][3] Nicotine, the primary psychoactive chemical in tobacco and therefore cigarettes, has
been shown to bepsychologically addictive, although it does not engender a physiological
dependency (e.g. discontinuation does not evoke somatic withdrawal syndromes as do drugs
such as alcohol or opioids). Cigarette use by pregnant women has also been shown to
cause birth defects, including mental and physical disabilities. Secondhand smoke from
cigarettes has been shown to be injurious to bystanders,[4][5][6][7] which has led to legislation that
has banned their smoking in many workplaces and public areas. Cigarettes are the most
frequent source of fires in private homes, which has prompted the European Union and
the United States to ban cigarettes that are not fire standard compliant by 2011
Manufacturing

Diagram of a cigarette.
1. Filter made of 95% cellulose acetate.
2. Tipping paper to cover the filter.
3. Rolling paper to cover the tobacco.
4. Tobacco blend.

Commercially manufactured cigarettes are seemingly simple objects consisting mainly of a

tobacco blend, paper, PVA glue to bond the outer layer of paper together, and often also
a cellulose acetate–based filter.[15] While the assembly of cigarettes is straightforward, much
focus is given to the creation of each of the components, in particular the tobacco blend, which
may contain over 600 ingredients,[16]many of them flavoring for the tobacco. A key ingredient
that makes cigarettes more addictive is the inclusion of reconstituted tobacco, which has
additives to make nicotine more volatile as the cigarette burns.[1]

Paper
Main article: Cigarette paper

The paper for holding the tobacco blend may vary in porosity to allow ventilation of the burning
ember or contain materials that control the burning rate of the cigarette and stability of the
produced ash. The papers used in tipping the cigarette (forming the mouthpiece) and
surrounding the filter stabilize the mouthpiece from saliva and moderate the burning of the
cigarette as well as the delivery of smoke with 

The health effects of tobacco are the circumstances, mechanisms, and factors of tobacco

consumption on human health. Epidemiological research has been focused primarily
on cigarette tobacco smoking,[1] which has been studied more extensively than any other form of
consumption.[2]
Tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable death in the United States[3] and worldwide.
[4]
 Tobacco use leads most commonly to diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking
being a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD) (including emphysemaand chronic bronchitis), and cancer (particularly lung
cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer). It also causes peripheral
vascular disease and hypertension. The effects depend on the number of years that a person
smokes and on how much the person smokes. Starting smoking earlier in life and smoking
cigarettes higher in tar increases the risk of these diseases. Cigarettes sold in underdeveloped
countries tend to have higher tar content, and are less likely to be filtered, potentially increasing
vulnerability to tobacco-related disease in these regions.[5]

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths in
2004[6] and 100 million deaths over the course of the 20th century.[7] Similarly, the United
States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most
important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of
premature death worldwide."[8]

Smoke contains several carcinogenic pyrolytic products that bind to DNA and cause
many genetic mutations. There are over 19 known chemical carcinogensin cigarette smoke.
Tobacco also contains nicotine, which is a highly addictive psychoactive chemical. When
tobacco is smoked, nicotine causes physical and psychological dependency. Tobacco use is a
significant factor in miscarriages among pregnant smokers, it contributes to a number of other
threats to the health of the fetus such as premature births and low birth weight and increases by
1.4 to 3 times the chance for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).[9] The result of scientific
studies done in neonatal rats seems to indicate that exposure to cigarette smoke in the womb
may reduce the fetal brain's ability to recognize hypoxic conditions, thus increasing the chance
of accidental asphyxiation.[10] Incidence of impotence is approximately 85 percent higher in male
smokers compared to non-smokers,[11] and is a key factor causing erectile dysfunction (ED).
Health effects

Nicotine stains on primarily the 2nd and 3rd fingers in a heavy smoker.

Summary of tobacco related diseases.Click to enlarge

A person's increased risk of contracting disease is directly proportional to the length of time that
a person continues to smoke as well as the amount smoked. However, if someone stops
smoking, then these chances gradually decrease as the damage to their body is repaired. A
year after quitting, the risk of contracting heart disease is half that of a continuing smoker.[63] The
health risks of smoking are not uniform across all smokers. Risks vary according to amount of
tobacco smoked, with those who smoke more at greater risk. Light smoking is still a health risk.
Likewise, smoking "light" cigarettes does not reduce the risks.
Tobacco use most commonly leads to diseases affecting the heart and lungs, with smoking
being a major risk factor for heart attacks, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease (COPD), emphysema, and cancer, particularly lung cancer, cancers of
the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer. Overall life expectancy is also reduced in regular
smokers, with estimates ranging from 10[30] to 17.9 [64] years fewer than nonsmokers.[65] About
two thirds of male smokers will die of illness due to smoking.[66] The association of smoking with
lung cancer is strongest, both in the public perception and etiologically. People who have
smoked tobacco at some point have about a one in ten chance of developing lung cancer during
their lifetime.[67] If one looks at men who continue to smoke tobacco, the risk increases to one in
six.[68]Historically, lung cancer was considered to be a rare disease prior to World War I and was
perceived as something most physicians would never see during their career. With the postwar
rise in popularity of cigarette smoking came a virtual epidemic of lung cancer.[69][70]

[edit]Mortality

Male and female smokers lose an average of 13.2 and 14.5 years of life, respectively.[71]

According to the results of a 50 year study of 34,439 male British doctors, at least half of all life-
long smokers die earlier as a result of smoking.[30]

Smokers are three times as likely to die before the age of 60 or 70 as non-smokers.[72][73][74]

In the United States alone, cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke accounts for
roughly one in five,[16] or at at least 443,000 premature deaths annually.[75]

"In the United States alone, tobacco kills the equivalent of three jumbo jets full of people
crashing every day, with no survivors, 365 days of the year." -ABC's Peter Jennings[76] On a
worldwide basis, it's 1 jumbo jet per hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. -WHO