Addiction to tobacco smoking and the effects on the lungs

The Addiction to tobacco smoking has many dangerous effects on the lungs. which lead to Bad breath, a chronic hacker’s cough, emphysema, heart disease, cancer- all of these, and more, can be blamed at least partly on smoking.

The smoke of buring tobacco contains many irritants and poisonous gases. First among them is carbon monoxide, the substance also found in the deadly fumes of automobile exhaust. What makes carbon monoxide dangerous is its extraordinary ability to combine with hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the substance in the blood that carries life-giving oxygen to tissues. Carbon monoxide wins out over oxygen, so that heavy smokers deprive themselves of up to ten percent of the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.

Lack of oxygen carried by the lungs leads to a number of harmful changes in the way the body functions. For one thing, the heart must pump faster to supply oxygen. Smoking also constricts the blood vessels in the fingers and toes, causing poor circulation. Compared to a nonsmoker, the average smoker has more than twice the chance of suffering a heart attack. In addition, women who smoke and use oral contraceptives are 20 times more likely to develop heart disease than nonsmokers. There may be other, still unknown changes in the smoker’s blood chemistry.

All the destructive processes smoking generates seem, in the main, to halt once you have stubbed out your last cigarette. After you stop smoking your chances of developing a smoking-associated disease diminishes year by year.

Scores of techniques for quitting- acupuncture, hypnosis, yoga, and so on- have been proposed to help individuals stop smoking. All of these techniques have helped some people. But the essential factor is clearly the individual’s own determination to quit.

Addiction to tobacco smoking and the effects on the lungs

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