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The role that long-term, heavy smoking plays in developing lung cancer and heart disease are widely known. But it also plays a significant role in damaging dozens of other body systems and overall health.
For example, even apart from specific damage to the lungs or larynx or arteries, smoking reduces the desire to exercise in most people. By using a chemical to lower stress, that motive for exercise is reduced. By lowering oxygen concentration, constricting arteries and causing “smoker’s hack” the incentives for healthy exercise are lowered still further.
The net result is that smokers tend to be more sedentary. That reduces overall fitness. As a result, the body is less able to deal with the normal strains put on it. What would otherwise be minor health problems, become larger and harder for the immune system to deal with.
Long term, heavy smoking has more direct effects on the body, in every area. It increases the odds of acquiring a variety of other cancers, such as cancer of the esophagus, the stomach and the cervix. It causes a form of leukemia.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is one of the possible conditions among long term smokers. About one in four contract it and it’s estimated that 80-90% of COPD cases are among those who smoke. Emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma (types of COPD) are much more prevalent among smokers than non-smokers.
Smoking ups the odds of having an aortic abdominal aneurysm (a weakening of the lining of the blood vessel). That makes it much more likely to rupture, which is generally fatal if not corrected within minutes.
Postmenopausal women smokers have, on average, a lower overall bone density than those who have never smoked. That makes it more likely for them to suffer hip fractures from falls, a problem among many of the elderly. Such bone fractures are sometimes fatal, as a result of subsequent complications.
The most well known ill-health effects from long-term, heavy smoking remain, of course, lung cancer and heart disease.
‘Long term’ is vague, but the longer the habit, the higher the odds. Some UK studies, for example, show that those in their 30s and 40s are five times more likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers. Long-term, one-pack-a-day smokers have 2-4 times the chance of developing coronary heart disease than do non-smokers.
‘Heavy’ is equally vague, but one pack per day is the most often cited figure and it correlates well with the amount most smokers consume. It’s estimated that 87% of lung cancer cases in the U.S. are the result of smoking a pack per day for 20 years or more.
Stopping now provides immediate lowering of the risk. Within 3 months the circulation improves. After a year, the odds of acquiring heart disease are half that of a smoker. After 5-15 years, the odds are that of someone who has never smoked. Don’t think it’s too late. Start today on a program to quit smoking.
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Many who consider quitting smoking think “the damage is done”. Or, “Why bother, it’s too late”. The scientific data say otherwise. It says the benefits are immediate and long-lasting.
Within the first hour after you stop smoking, blood pressure and pulse decrease and the internal temperature of the hands and feet increase. The compounds produced in the body from smoking constrict blood vessels and raise the heart rate. As they’re flushed out of the body, it returns to a normal state.
A few hours later, carbon monoxide levels in the blood return to normal. Cigarette smoke contains CO, which binds with hemoglobin - the molecule that helps transport oxygen through the blood stream. But that combination reduces the amount of available oxygen. As the CO level decreases, more oxygen is available for its intended purpose: feeding tissues that sustain your life.
After the first 24 hours, the risk of heart attack is already on the downswing. Forty-eight hours after you quit, your nerve endings will change. The stimulation induced by bathing them in nicotine products is radically reduced. You’ll begin to recover normal sensation. At the same time, the senses of taste and smell start to recover. Food will taste fresher and you’ll be able to detect odors better.
After a couple of weeks, the cravings for nicotine will taper off, only to return (if at all) at random over the next few months. The circulatory system is recovering. The ability to exercise without wheezing and shortness of breath is returning gradually. After a few weeks or months, you’ll be able to carry out a normal exercise routine.
Over the next several months, the hack and sinus congestion so common among smokers decreases considerably. Smoke-induced fatigue drops, so the overall energy level increases. The body’s systems are regenerating to function at peak level.
As you keep to that long-term commitment, the risk of stroke drops precipitously. For smokers, the risk is twice that of a non-smoker. Within a year it’s half what it was. Within 5-15 years it is down to that of someone who has never inhaled a cigarette.
At the same time, similar risks of lung or larynx cancer, as well as bladder, pancreas and others, drop to that of a lifelong non-smoker. Official estimates attribute 87% of lung cancer cases to long-term, heavy smoking. Quitting smoking takes you out of that group within a few years.
Stopping smoking is a permanent commitment to long-term health. The alternative is a greatly increased risk of coronary disease, stroke, a dozen different cancers, COPD and other serious medical problems. Don’t let the odds get you. Stop now.
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