Smoking is associated - in advertising campaigns - with after action satisfaction and as a passport to an exciting life. Real life however reveals a few bare facts about how unromantic cigarettes are:
Filters do not remove enough tar to make cigarettes less dangerous
Some taste-improving chemicals added to tobacco also cause cancer
A chemical very similar to rocket fuel helps keep the tip of the cigarette burning at an extremely hot temperature. This allows the nicotine in tobacco to turn into a vapour so your lungs can absorb it more easily
Most people prefer to use ammonia for things such as cleaning windows and toilet bowls. By adding ammonia to cigarettes, nicotine in its vapour form can be absorbed through your lungs more quickly. This, in turn, means your brain can get a higher dose of nicotine with each puff
Here is a list of chemicals added to your cigarettes that will surprise you
Cadmium - In industry and consumer products, cadmium is used for batteries, pigments, metal coatings, and plastics. Cadmium damages the lungs, can cause kidney disease, and may irritate the digestive tract.
Benzene - Naturally occurring substance produced by volcanoes and forest fires and present in many plants and animals. But benzene is also a major industrial chemical made from coal and oil. Benzene is used to make other chemicals, as well as some types of plastics, detergents, and pesticides. It is also a component of gasoline. Linked to leukaemia
Formaldehyde - used as glue in wood products and a preservative in some paints. It can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes, nose and throat, nausea, coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, skin rashes, and allergic reactions.
Nickel - Hard, silvery-white metal. Causes increased susceptibility to lung infections, chronic bronchitis and reduced lung function.
Lead - Used in ammunition, roofing, gasoline, paints and ceramic products and caulking. Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. The most sensitive is the central nervous system, particularly in children. Lead also damages kidneys and the immune system. Exposure to lead is more dangerous for young and unborn children. Harmful effects include premature births, smaller babies, decreased mental ability in the infant, learning difficulties, and reduced growth in young children.
Acetone - Present in vehicle exhaust, tobacco smoke, and landfill sites. Breathing moderate-to-high levels of acetone for short periods of time can cause nose, throat, lung, and eye irritation; headaches; light-headedness; confusion; increased pulse rate; effects on blood; nausea; vomiting; unconsciousness and possibly coma; and shortening of the menstrual cycle in women.
Pyridine - Made from crude coal tar or from other chemicals and is used to dissolve other substances. Headaches, giddiness, a desire to sleep, quickening of the pulse, and rapid breathing have been witnessed in people who have breathed in pyridine.
Many of these chemicals were added to make you better able to tolerate toxic amounts of cigarette smoke. They were added without regard to your health and with the intent to keep you addicted.
Smoking and your body
We all know that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer and heart attacks. But impotence, Tooth loss, Abnormal fat deposits, Blindness, with each new medical study, it becomes more apparent that smoking is a total onslaught, harming any tissue in the body that needs a reliable supply of oxygen - in other words, every tissue in the body.
Tobacco use has been implicated in over 50 medical conditions that can seriously compromise your quality of life, and even kill you. Some of these are listed here.
Smoking can harm your
Brain
Smoking doubles your risk for stroke.
Smoking has been implicated in degeneration of mental function.
Skin
Smoking typically results in premature skin aging.
Smokers have a two to three time’s greater risk of developing the chronic skin condition psoriasis.
Eyes
Smoking increases your risk of blindness due to age-related macular degeneration by up to four times.
Mouth
A smoker’s risk of developing oral (mouth) cancer is four times that of a non-smoker. Smoking increases the risk for gum disease, which is associated with tooth loss and halitosis
Smokers usually have a poor sense of taste
Ears
Children exposed to passive smoke tend to have more middle ear infections.
Nose
Smoking has been linked to cancer of the nasal cavities and sinuses,
Smokers usually have a poor sense of smell.
Throat
Smoking increases your risk for cancer of the phanryx (throat).
Voice box
Smoking increases your risk for cancer of the larynx (voice box).
Oesophagus
Smoking increases your risk for cancer of the oesophagus (gullet).
Lungs
One in 10 moderate smokers and almost one in five heavy smokers will die of lung cancer.
Smoking is a major risk factor for COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), which includes such conditions as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Smoking worsens asthma symptoms and renders asthma medication less effective.
Heart
Smoking increases your risk for heart disease and heart attack by two - three times.
Kidneys
Smoking increases your risk for cancer of the kidney.
Pancreas
Smoking increases your risk for cancer of the pancreas.
Liver
Smoking increases your risk for liver cancer.
Stomach
Smoking increases your risk for stomach cancer and peptic ulcer.
Bladder
Smoking increases your risk for bladder cancer.
Colon and rectum
Smoking increases your risk for colorectal cancer.
Reproductive organs
Smoking may be the cause of infertility in 17% of couples who are childless for medical reasons.
Smoking increases the risk of impotence, or erectile dysfunction, by about 50% for men in their 30s and 40s.
Smoking increases the risk of cervical cancer.
Smoking more than 10 cigarettes a day increases the risk of early menopause to twice that of non-smokers.
Pregnancy and childbirth
Smoking increases the risk for problems during pregnancy and birth, including miscarriage, and babies who are born premature, underweight or stillborn.
Passive smoking is believed to be a causative factor in SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).
Limbs
Smoking is the most important risk factor for peripheral vascular disease (narrowing of arteries to the limbs), and increases the risk of gangrene and subsequent limb amputation by over five times.
Bones and muscles
Smoking weakens bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments.
Osteoporosis tends to occur earlier in smokers.
Smoking is associated with slow healing of fractures and slow wound healing.
Smokers have a higher injury rate.
Blood
Smoking is a risk factor for certain kinds of leukemia.
Immune system
Risk of infections, like colds and flu, is higher in smokers.
Children exposed to passive smoking are at increased risk for bronchitis, pneumonia, throat infections and middle ear infections.
The effect of smoking on the endocrine system (glands which secrete hormones) can result in the abnormal distribution of body fat.
Cigarette
