How does smoking affect your body?
Smoking and the Heart
The effects of smoking on your heart are devastating. Nicotine raises blood pressure and makes the blood clot more easily. Carbon monoxide robs the blood of oxygen and leads to the development of plaque deposits on the artery walls. The plaque builds onto itself and causes narrowing of your blood vessels. This eventually leads to poor circulation, increasing your risk of heart attack, stroke, impotence and peripheral vascular disease.
Smoking and the Body's Organs
The digestive system is also affected. The tars in smoke can trigger cancer of the esophagus and throat. Smoking causes increased stomach acid secretion, leading to heartburn and ulcers. Many of the carcinogens from cigarettes are excreted in the urine where their presence can cause bladder cancer, which is often fatal. Smokers have higher rates of deadly pancreatic cancer and all cancers in general. Many of the carcinogens from cigarettes are excreted in the urine where their presence can cause bladder cancer, which is often fatal.
The good news you ask? When you quit smoking your body begins to repair itself. Ten years after you quit, your body has repaired most of the damage smoking caused. Those who wait until cancer or emphysema has set in aren't so lucky. It's one more reason to take the big plunge and quit now.
