How DOES smoking cigarettes kill YOU?

Tobacco/cigarettes will kill almost half of its users. That’s more than 8 million people each year, of which more than 7 million deaths are the users themselves and about 1.2 million are the result of passive smoking.

It has been proven that smokers are much more likely to die before the age of 60. Passive smoking in adults increases the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. In children it increases the risk of SIDS: sudden infant death syndrome and in pregnant women it increases the risk of pregnancy complications and low birthweight (low birth weight of the baby). As a result of the disease caused by passive smoking, 65,000 children die every year! Diseases caused by smoking are the most important risk factors for preventable deaths. Do you smoke? Every day you shorten your life by about 11 minutes!

What can be found in the cigarette?

Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals, including about 40 carcinogens. If you want to google it, here are some of them: acetone, ammonia, arsenic, benzopyrene, butane vinyl chloride, hydrogen cyanide, DDT, formaldehyde, cadmium, methanol, naphthylamine polonium, carbon monoxide, nicotine.

The components of the inhaled tobacco smoke enter the bloodstream and reach the organs, tissues and cells of the body causing damage to them, which may lead to the disruption of many vital processes. Nicotine is also a psychoactive substance! It has the ability to affect the central nervous system and is responsible for the onset of addiction.

Nicotine affects the nervous system even several times more strongly than alcohol or drugs.

Why should you quit smoking?

By quitting smoking you can prevent:

Lung cancer – the most common malignant tumor in the world, smoking increases the risk of it up to 30% compared to 1% for non-smokers,
Cancer of the larynx, mouth and throat, bladder, kidney, pancreas,
Cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke (smoking is responsible for >10% of deaths from these causes),
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic bronchitis,
Decreased immunity, decreased sexual performance,
Addiction and all its consequences.

What can you gain?

You will live longer.
You will be able to breathe with “full breath”.
You will get less tired and be more physically fit.
You will be more resistant to colds and seasonal diseases.
You will look better, smell better, smile nicer.
You will be richer with all the money you would normally spend on the cigarettes.
Remember, it’s NEVER too late to quit smoking and you will feel the effects practically immediately.

What will change if you don’t smoke the next cigarette ?

After 8h: oxygen level in the blood rises to normal
After 24h: the risk of heart attack decreases
After 48h: ability to feel taste and smell increases
After 2 weeks to 3 months: lung function increases by 30%
In 1 to 9 months: the tissue lining the lungs regenerates and the ability to clear the airways and prevent and infection increases
Within a year: risk of heart disease (myocardial infarction) halves compared to a smoker
Within 5 years: the risk of death from lung cancer is almost halved
After 5-15 years: risk of stroke decreases to the same level as a non-smoker
Within 10 years: pre-cancerous cells are replaced by healthy cells, the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder is almost halved

The decision is entirely up to you. It will not be easy – that’s the insidious, addictive effect of nicotine. But remember that with each passing day the desire to reach for a cigarette will be less.

Don’t forget that you can always turn to your family doctor for help or look up for the help of any tobacco/nicotine addiction treatment center.