Smoke from cigarettes or tobacco smoke is very harmful for your health. There is simply no safe way of smoking. You may replace your cigarette with a pipe, cigar or even a hookah, but none of these options will allow you to indulge in smoking without jeopardizing your health.
Statistics reveal that smoking deaths are exponential in number. This is because a cigarette contains around six hundred different ingredients.
When all of them burn at the same time, they degenerate into thousands of chemicals. Some of these chemicals are very poisonous in nature. Cigars, pipes and hookahs also contain almost all of these components.
Smoking affects the body in many ways. First of all it contains an ingredient that can alter the mood of a person. It is called nicotine and it reaches the brain within a fraction of a second. Nicotine stimulates the central nervous system making you feel energized.
Nicotine is an addictive substance. Smoking exposes a person to the risk of poor eyesight. It deprives the smoker of the sense of taste and smell making the food less enjoyable.
The human body secretes a hormone which is known as corticosterone. It is a stress hormone and lowers the effects caused by nicotine. If a person is under a lot of stress, that person would need more nicotine to have the same effect. When a person decides to quit smoking, he can end up with headaches and sleep deprivation problems.
Smoking also causes respiratory problems. When the smoker inhales the smoke, he / she is taking in all those substances that can cause serious damage to the lungs. Over an extended period of time, the lungs of the smoker may lose their capacity to filter the harmful things.
Coughing is not enough to get rid of all the toxic chemicals in a sufficient manner. Consequently, they become trapped within the lungs. This means that a chain smoker is more exposed to respiratory infections, flu and cold. Smoking causes damage to the cardiovascular system of the smoker.
Nicotine boosts the sugar level of the blood. After some time, the user becomes tired and wants more nicotine. Smoking also lowers the level of cholesterol and increases blood pressure. There is also a risk of blood clot formation within the vessels.
Non smokers are also exposed to some of these risks. Second hand smoke has an adverse effect on the cardiovascular system. It increases the risk of heart attack and coronary diseases of the heart.
