OSEA Safety Blog

The Dangers of Smoking Cigarettes

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 Tammy Meng

No matter the frequency of your smoking habits, tobacco is dangerous to your health. There are no safe substances in any cigarette or tobacco related products. From acetone, to tar, to nicotine and just about everything in between, nothing that is put into a cigarette, is healthy. The substances you inhale don’t just affect your lungs. They can affect your entire body.

Smoking does cause more deaths than HIV, Illegal Drug Use, Alcohol Use, Motor Vehicles Injures & Fire Arms.

Smoking can affect the body in many ways from your vision to weakened immune system.

  1. Tobacco Odor – the odor sticks to your clothes, body and hair and stays inside your vehicle and in your household
  2. Gum Disease/Yellow Teeth – by smoking you double the risk of gum disease and this risk increases with every cigarette you have.

Some Symptoms of gum disease can include but is not limited to:

  • Bleeding when brushing
  • Swollen and tender gums
  • Sensitive teeth
  • Loose teeth

  1. Vision Problems – can increase the risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. Other vision problems related to smoking include: dry eye, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy.
  2. It has been well documented that cigarette smoking can cause many forms of other cancers. Here are a few of the possible cancers: Laryngeal Cancer, Esophageal Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Colon Cancer and Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Mouth Cancer, Throat Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Liver Cancer.
  3. Smoking can contribute to Type 2 diabetes and increase the risk of complications from the disease. This includes poor blood flow to legs and feet and this can lead to infection and result in the need to amputate a limb.
  4. Loss of Appetite – smoking can suppress your need to eat by decreasing your sense of taste. This can make eating less enjoyable
  5. Heart disease – smoking is one of the well proven lifestyle habits that contributes to heart disease. People that smoke and those that are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke are at a higher risk for heart attacks.
  6. Tobacco smoke lowers your good cholesterol and increases your bad cholesterol. This also raises your triglycerides and cholesterol.
  7. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is more common in smokers. 8 out of 10 cases of COPD are due to smoking.
  8. The more you smoke the greater the risk of a stroke. Smoking makes you twice as likely to have a stroke.

Smoking is an addiction and can damage your body in a multitude of different ways! Bad habits are hard to quit and take time. Don’t lose hope, be persistent in quitting. You can learn how to quit, today!

Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov

https://www.outlife.org.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com

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