How can tobacco chemicals appear in other body organs

Some changes are sudden, lasting just a short time. Colds and pneumonia are examples of this. Other, more chronic changes happen slowly and can last a lifetime — like emphysema. When you smoke, the cells that produce mucus in your lungs and airways grow in size and number.

As a result, the amount of mucus increases and thickens. Your lungs cannot effectively clean out this excess mucus. So, the mucus stays in your airways, clogs them, and makes you cough. This extra mucus is also prone to infection.

Smoking causes your lungs to age faster and hinders their natural defense mechanisms from protecting you against infection. Smoking inflames and irritates the lungs. Even one or two cigarettes cause irritation and coughing. Smoking also can destroy your lungs and lung tissue. This decreases the number of air spaces and blood vessels in the lungs, resulting in less oxygen to critical parts of your body.

A few seconds after you light a cigarette, cilia slow down in movement. Smoking just one cigarette can slow the action of your cilia for several hours. Smoking also reduces the number of cilia in your lungs, leaving fewer to properly clean the organ. Cigarette smoking can be very damaging to your circulation system. Because the tar in cigarettes contain harmful chemicals, your blood stream is infected by them when you smoke. Head and Face Ears One effect of smoking is reduced oxygen supply to the cochlea, a snail-shaped organ in the inner ear.

Eyes Smoking causes physical changes in the eyes that can threaten your eyesight. Mouth Smoking takes a toll on your mouth. Face Smoking can cause your skin to be dry and lose elasticity, leading to wrinkles and stretch marks. Heart Stressed Heart Smoking raises your blood pressure and puts stress on your heart. Sticky Blood Smoking makes your blood thick and sticky. Fatty Deposits Smoking increases the cholesterol and unhealthy fats circulating in the blood, leading to unhealthy fatty deposits.

Lungs Scarred Lungs Smokers' lungs experience inflammation in the small airways and tissues of your lungs. Emphysema Smoking destroys the tiny air sacs, or alveoli, in the lungs that allow oxygen exchange.

Cilia and Respiratory Infections Your airways are lined with tiny brush like hairs, called cilia. Stomach and Hormones Belly Need another reason why smoking is bad for you? Quit Notes. Start your adventure here. Fact: Quitting can improve your night vision by stopping the damage smoking does to your eyes. I wish I had known how much strength I really had in me. Smokefree Michele.

More for you. Benefits of Quitting. Quitting smoking can help most of the major parts of your body: from your brain to your DNA. How to Manage Cravings. When you have a craving, it's important to have a plan to beat that urge to smoke.

Steps to Manage Quit Day. Even those who used to smoke face a higher risk than people who never smoked. This may be because tobacco and the other chemicals in cigarettes affect hormone levels. In males, the more cigarettes a person smokes and the longer they smoke for, the higher the risk of erectile dysfunction.

Smoking can also affect the quality of the sperm and therefore reduce fertility. According to the CDC , smoking can affect pregnancy and the developing fetus in several ways, including:.

The CDC report that people who smoke regularly have a 30—40 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who do not. Smoking can also make it more difficult for people with diabetes to manage their condition. It can also cause additional inflammation in the body. Smoking cigarettes can cause eye problems, including a greater risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

People who smoke have double the risk of gum disease. This risk increases with the number of cigarettes a person smokes. It can also stain the teeth yellow or brown. A person who smokes may experience prematurely aged, wrinkled skin. Smoking can cause the hair and skin to smell of tobacco. It can also contribute to hair loss and balding. In addition to the well-documented link with lung cancer, smoking cigarettes can also contribute to other forms of cancer.

The American Cancer Society report that cigarette smoking causes 20—30 percent of pancreatic cancers. People who smoke are also three times as likely to develop bladder cancer than people who do not. Tobacco is especially linked to stomach cancers that occur near the esophagus.

The ill effects of smoking cigarettes do not only affect people who smoke. Secondhand smoke can also have significant health effects on family members, friends, and coworkers. When plaque builds up in the arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis. Plaque narrows the arteries and reduces blood flow to your heart muscle.

The buildup of plaque also makes it more likely that blood clots will form in your arteries. Blood clots can partially or completely block blood flow.

Over time, smoking contributes to atherosclerosis and increases your risk of having and dying from heart disease, heart failure , or a heart attack. Compared with nonsmokers, people who smoke are more likely to have heart disease and suffer from a heart attack. The risk of having or dying from a heart attack is even higher among people who smoke and already have heart disease. Peripheral artery disease P. Smoking is a major risk factor for P.

Blocked blood flow in the leg arteries can cause cramping, pain, weakness, and numbness in your hips, thighs, and calf muscles. Blocked blood flow also can raise your risk of getting an infection in the affected limb. Your body might have a hard time fighting the infection. If severe enough, blocked blood flow can cause gangrene tissue death. In very serious cases, this can lead to leg amputation. If you have P. Smoking even one or two cigarettes a day can interfere with P. People who smoke and people who have diabetes are at highest risk for P.

Secondhand smoke also raises the risk of future coronary heart disease in children and teens because it:. The risks of secondhand smoke are especially high for premature babies who have respiratory distress syndrome and children who have conditions such as asthma. Also, studies have shown that people who smoke cigars are at increased risk of heart disease.

One of the best ways to reduce your risk of coronary heart disease is to avoid tobacco smoke. Ask friends and family members to not smoke in the house and car. Quitting smoking can lower your risk of heart disease as much as, or more than, common medicines used to lower heart disease risk, including aspirin, statins, beta blockers, and ACE inhibitors.

Millions of people have successfully quit smoking and remain nonsmokers. Surveys of current adult smokers find that 70 percent say they want to quit. There are a few ways to quit smoking, including quitting all at once going "cold turkey" or slowly cutting back your number of cigarettes before quitting completely. Use the method that works best for you. Below are some strategies to help you quit. If you want to quit smoking, try to get motivated.

Make a list of your reasons for wanting to quit. Write a contract to yourself that outlines your plan for quitting. If you've tried to quit smoking in the past, think about those attempts. What helped you during that time, and what made it harder?

Know what triggers you to smoke. For example, do you smoke after a meal, while driving, or when you're stressed? Develop a plan to handle each trigger. Set a quit date and let those close to you know about it. Ask your family and friends for support in your effort to quit smoking.

You also can get support from hotlines and Web sites. These resources can help you set up a plan for quitting smoking. Talk with your doctor and pharmacist about medicines and over-the-counter products that can help you quit smoking.

These medicines and products are helpful for many people. You can buy nicotine gum, patches, and lozenges from a drug store.