You probably know about the relationship between smoking and lung cancer, but did you know smoking is also linked to heart disease, stroke and other chronic lung diseases? Smoking can also increase your risk for cancer of the bladder, throat and mouth, kidneys, cervix and pancreas. Thinking about quitting? Look at the facts!
Why you should quit?
Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the United States.
Smoking causes more than one in five deaths in America.
90 percent of lung cancer in men is directly related to smoking and 80 percent of lung cancer in women is caused by cigarettes.
About 23 percent of adult men and about 18 percent of adult women smoke.
According to the American Heart Association, most adult smokers started smoking when they were preteens or teenagers. Unfortunately, many young people don’t fully understand the dangers of smoking.
About 60 percent of American children ages 4-11 are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.
What makes cigarettes so toxic and dangerous?
There are 4,000 chemical components found in cigarettes and at least 250 of them are harmful to human health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Second-Hand Smoke
Smokers aren’t the only ones affected by tobacco smoke. Secondhand
smoke is a serious health hazard for nonsmokers, especially children.
Cigarette smoke contains more than Nonsmokers who have high blood
pressure or high blood cholesterol have an even greater risk of developing
heart diseases when they’re exposed to secondhand smoke.
Environmental tobacco smoke causes about 46,000 heart disease deaths and
3,400 lung cancer deaths. Studies show that the risk of developing heart disease
is about 25-30 percent higher among people exposed to environmental tobacco
smoke at home or work. Secondhand smoke promotes illness, too. Children
of smokers have many more respiratory infections than do children of
nonsmokers. Nonsmoking women exposed to tobacco smoke are also
more likely to have low-birthweight babies.
You do not have to spend the rest of your life giving in to your addiction! Thousands of people kick the habit every year, and you can be one of them. It may not be easy, but you can do it!
Smoking: Do you really know the risks?
PG. 4
Article Source: Heart.Org