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Smoking Effects
What does smoking do to my body?Worrying about your health is a horrible feeling. But it is important to remind yourself of the damage smoking is doing to your body. We all know about the risk of cancer and heart problems but smoking can damage your whole body. The picture compares a healthy lung to a smokers lung. |
Reproduction and Fertility
You may have seen the recent TV adverts that show how smoking can increase your risk of impotence. It can also damage sperm, reduced sperm count and cause testicular cancer.
For women, smoking can make you less fertile and increase the risk of having a miscarriage, a low birth weight baby or cot death. Smoking also increases your risk of cancer of the cervix.
Stomach
The damage to your stomach area can affect your vital organs. You have an increased chance of getting stomach cancer or ulcers. You are also at risk of developing cancers in your kidneys, pancreas and bladder.
Heart
The health risks that smoking causes to your heart are very dangerous. Your veins and arteries become blocked and narrow you are at a greatly increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and aneurysms. Aneurysms are blockages which can burst or completely block up, this often leads to amputation or death. Smokers are more than twice as likely as non-smokers to die from heart disease.
Circulation
Smoking causes your veins and arteries to get narrower, harder and coated with fatty deposits. This can cause problems like:
- Low fitness, cold skin, hands and feet and ulcers.
- Gangrene which leads to about 2,000 amputations every year in the UK.
- Cramps, pains and blockages in your veins which can cause strokes or heart attacks.
Mouth and Throat
Smoking causes unattractive problems like bad breath and stained teeth. It can also cause gum disease and damage your sense of taste.
The most serious damage smoking causes in this area is an increased risk of cancer in your lips, tongue, throat, voice box and oesophagus (gullet).
Skin
Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen to the skin. This means that skin ages more quickly and looks grey and dull. The toxins in your body also cause cellulite.
Bones
Smoking can cause bones to get weak and brittle. Women need to be especially careful because you are 5-10% more likely to suffer from osteoporosis than non smokers.
