There are many smokers today who are ignorant of the risks associated with smoking.
It has been established by health experts that smoking is responsible for various types of cancer.
They include cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, oesophagus, lung, bladder, kidney, cervix, stomach, pancreas and acute myeloid leukaemia.
Tobacco smoke does not only harm those who smoke but also poses a health risk to non-smokers.
Quitting this unhealthy habit helps to decrease the health risks associated with it.
Inhaling a little tobacco smoke can be detrimental attributing to the harmful chemicals contained in tobacco.
Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals out of which, 250 which have carbon monoxide, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide, are recognized as destructive.
And 69 of the 250 chemicals can cause cancer.
The following are the cancer-causing chemicals: • Arsenic • Vinyl chloride • Benzene • Ethylene oxide • Chromium (a metallic element) • Nickel (a metallic element) • Beryllium (a toxic metal) • Cadmium (a toxic metal) • A radioactive chemical element (Polonium-210) • 1, 3-Butadiene (a harmful gas) • Benzo[α]pyrene, Formaldehyde and Toluene are additional tobacco smoke's toxic chemicals alleged to cause cancer.
Smoking is said to lead in the development of cancer as it damages almost all the body organs, lessening the overall health of the smoker.
There are numerous health concerns resulting from smoking such as asthma, cataracts, stroke, heart complications, aortic aneurysm (which is a bulge like a balloon inside an artery in the chest), hip fractures and chronic pulmonary disease (COPD).
Smokers are highly susceptible to pneumonia as well as other infections associated with the respiratory system.
There is a higher risk of a pregnant delivering an abnormally underweight premature baby.
Also, a woman who smokes during her pregnancy period or after giving birth exposes her baby to various health risks.
This can also lead to death which may occur due to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
Men who smoke on their part, are highly at risk of developing erectile dysfunction.
Statistics indicate that 440,000 people die prematurely in the USA due to diseases associated with cigarette smoking and being exposed to tobacco smoke.
About 25 per cent of these deaths result from lung diseases, 35 per cent, from heart disease and stroke while 40 per cent are cancer-related.
Smoking is responsible for the majority of those premature but preventable deaths.
All tobacco products including smokeless tobacco (also known as chewing tobacco, snuff) and pipe tobacco, water pipes (hookahs), kreteks and bidis are quite addictive and harmful.
Cigars, cigarettes, and other tobacco products contain different quantities of nicotine, cancer-causing elements and other toxicants.
The manner in which a person smokes is more important than the nicotine content in the product.
This determines how much nicotine gets into the body.
The nicotine is absorbed in the lungs and through the mouth's lining.
Higher amounts of nicotine are absorbed when the smoker inhales the smoke into the lungs and takes deep puffs repeatedly.
It does not matter the age; smokers can considerably decrease their risk of contracting tobacco related diseases like cancer by simply quitting the habit.