Thread: Danger of smoking

The effects of smoking have been big news for many years. Every year more people try to quit, there are more restrictions on smoking, and more research into the effects of smoking both on smokers and the people around them.
You don't have to be a smoker to want to know the facts about cigarette smoking. You might be a parent or teacher keen to encourage young people not to start in the first place. Or perhaps you're an employer trying to reduce smoking at work by helping your staff quit. Or you may be trying to help your partner of a friend to stop smoking. The effect of smoking on other people looks at the dangers of second-hand smoke, whether at home, in the car.

The danger of smoking
Most of us have a pretty good idea of what the dangers of smoking are and what it can do to people. You might, however, be surprised by some of the less obvious effects of smoking.



In this section, find out all about the effects of smoking on your health. Smoking can affect every part of your body. It can lead to both minor and major health problems. But do you know exactly what happens to your body when you smoke?

What happens when you smoke?
• When you smoke, less oxygen reaches your lungs. Nicotine, the addictive stuff, stimulates your central nervous system, making your heart beat faster and raising your blood pressure. Tar from cigarettes ends up in your lungs.
• Over time, smoking obstructs or narrows the small airways in the lungs and destroys the air sacs there. It clogs arteries and causes blood clots.
This is why smoking tobacco causes so much ill health in Scotland. Every year 13,000 Scots die from smoking-related illnesses. For more statistics on smoking-related illnesses and deaths in Scotland, visit
Code:



The health benefits of stopping
"I feel healthier. I taste my food better. I’m not breathless walking up that hill. I’ve got more money which I spend on nice clothes."- Shelagh, Inverclyde
Stopping smoking not only reduces the risk of getting serious smoking-related diseases, it means you're less likely to have other health problems, such as:
• Gum disease and bad breath
• Coughs and shortness of breath
• Colds and flu
• Mouth ulcers
• High blood pressure
• Asthma attacks
In the long-term, breaking the habit reduces the chances of you suffering from:
• Stroke
• Reduced vision
• Mouth and throat cancer
• Heart disease
• Emphysema and bronchitis
• Lung cancer
• Stomach ulcers
• Bladder cancer
• Infertility
• Peripheral vascular disease, which can lead to gangrene and amputation of limbs
Some of the less well-known benefits of stopping smoking are that wounds and surgical incisions should heal more quickly. For women, the good news is that you're less likely to suffer painful periods and osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) once you've quit.
Thinking of starting a family? Men who smoke may suffer from impotence and produce less sperm. Women who smoke take longer to conceive and are more likely to have a miscarriage or stillbirth. Stopping smoking can improve your chances of conceiving.
Improve your health
It doesn't matter how old you are, how much you smoke or how many years you've been a smoker – giving up can halt at least some of the damage. The heart can pump more blood – and oxygen – around the body with less effort.
Quitting particularly reduces the risk of a heart attack in people with other risk factors like being overweight or who have diabetes, high blood pressure or raised blood cholesterol levels.
As well as affecting your general health, quitting smoking can make a big difference to the way you look. Did you know that stopping smoking can benefit your skin? For a start, you’ll be getting rid of the yellow tar stains from your fingers and the smell of stale smoke from your hair. This will make a difference to how you look and how you feel.
"Folks say I’m looking a lot better. I’m not huffing and blowing."- Arthur, Aberdeen
Benefits to your skin
The benefits of stopping smoking to your appearance can be gained at any point in life, although, obviously, the earlier you think about stopping smoking, the greater the effect on your looks.
The myth that gets many teenagers to take up the habit in the first place – that smoking makes you look older – is sadly true when it comes to your skin.
Smoking reduces the amount of blood flowing to the skin and dries it out. Over time, this means it loses elasticity and gets more wrinkled.
Stopping smoking can have positive effects on your skin. You will improve your skin tone and colour. You're less likely to get wrinkles round your eyes and mouth from squinting when smoke gets in your eyes, and puckering up when you draw on a cigarette.
Quitting smoking lowers your chances of developing psoriasis, a chronic skin condition that can be extremely uncomfortable and disfiguring.
Benefits to your body
Quitting smoking has a good effect on your entire body.
Many smokers believe their habit help keeps their weight down. This is true to some extent. But did you know that smoking affects the shape of your body?
Smoking causes changes in the glands that secrete hormones so smokers store more body fat around their waist and upper torso than their hips. This means smokers are likely to have a higher waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) than non-smokers. A high WHR is associated with a greater risk of developing:
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Gallbladder problems
• Cancer of the womb and breast in women
Quitting means your body can get back to normal and recover from the effects of smoking.
Benefits to your teeth
It's not just the look of your teeth that can be affected by smoking. Smoking makes it harder for saliva to remove germs in your mouth so you have more chance of getting gum disease, which can lead to premature tooth loss and bad breath. Stopping smoking means whiter teeth and a reduced risk of losing them – with fewer trips to the dentist too, with any luck.
Smoking is a costly habit in more ways than one. The financial cost of smoking should not be underestimated, and giving up can give you some immediate financial benefits.
Think about it, if you smoke an average 20-a-day, you will smoke 7,300 cigarettes a year. Even if you buy cheaper brands, that still means you spend at least £1,500 on cigarettes every year. So the cost of smoking really mounts up.
What could you buy with that? A holiday, maybe. Or a new wardrobe?
If you're a younger smoker, stopping could still mean you're around £8 per week better off. The average weekly cost of smoking for a teenager is roughly the same amount as the cost of a CD or DVD.
"It was 40 a day. It was £8, £9 a day, £60 a week. I realised it was the right time to do it."- Jeff
The cost of smoking
The cost of smoking can be a burden on your household budget. One survey found that if both you and your partner smoke, you could be spending as much as 15% of your income on tobacco.
There are other costs of smoking that you might not have thought about before. Some savings are less obvious:
• Long-term, because you're less at risk of developing a smoking-related disease or disability, you’re also less likely to need to take time off work from ill health, or have to retire early.
• You will pay less for insurance premiums.
• There is reduced risk of damage to your home from fire, and you will save money on cleaning and redecorating to get rid of nicotine stains and the smell of smoke.
You can use our Cost Calculator to work out how much smoking costs you and how quitting could add money to your bank account.
But it's not just you who stands to gain from stopping. Before the smoking ban came in, some calculations were done. It was found that every year Scottish employers lose:
• £450 million in productivity due to smoking
• £40 million from smoking-related absences
The cost of smoking also affects the NHS – £200 million a year in hospital care. Cigarettes and matches are a common cause of fire – several million pounds worth of fire damage to Scottish homes each year is the result of fires caused by cigarettes left burning. Although it is likely to reduce as a result of people giving up smoking and as a result of less people being exposed to second-hand smoke due to the smoking ban, the costs still remain high. Finally, cigarette ends, packets and matches are the most commonly found items of rubbish and therefore add to the cost of keeping our cities and towns tidy.

People who don't smoke still suffer the effects of passive smoking by breathing in 'second-hand smoke' from smokers' cigarettes. There may still be smoke particles in the air even if it doesn't seem smoky. One of the dangers of second-hand smoke is that particles from smoke in the air are smaller than in smoke drawn directly from a cigarette and can penetrate deeper into the lungs.

The effects of passive smoking or second-hand smoke include:
• Eye irritation
• Headache
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Dizziness
• Nausea
"I think most people who do smoke want to give up. It’s very, very hard but I think there is a turning point for everyone. Mine just happened to be my grandson."- Bella, Edinburgh
The effects of passive smoking
A non-smoker who lives with a smoker may be exposed to about 1% of their tobacco smoke from passive smoking. This can increase their chances of developing lung cancer or dying from a heart attack. The same applies to people who work in a smoky atmosphere, which is why Scotland now has a ban on smoking in enclosed public places such as workplaces, pubs and restaurants.

Nice sharing!!!!

nice post
thanks for sharing

thanks for sharing !!!

The information that you have given above is very nice and also very beneficial for me as well as others who wants to stay healthy. I liked and very much impressed by this.I am very much thankful to you for giving me the exact information.

I am regular smoker and aware with these dangerous impacts of the smoking on the human health.
I want to quit smoking please help me, what should I do for quit smoking.
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Originally Posted by rizni

The effects of smoking have been big news for many years. Every year more people try to quit, there are more restrictions on smoking, and more research into the effects of smoking both on smokers and the people around them.
You don't have to be a smoker to want to know the facts about cigarette smoking. You might be a parent or teacher keen to encourage young people not to start in the first place. Or perhaps you're an employer trying to reduce smoking at work by helping your staff quit. Or you may be trying to help your partner of a friend to stop smoking. The effect of smoking on other people looks at the dangers of second-hand smoke, whether at home, in the car.

The danger of smoking
Most of us have a pretty good idea of what the dangers of smoking are and what it can do to people. You might, however, be surprised by some of the less obvious effects of smoking.



In this section, find out all about the effects of smoking on your health. Smoking can affect every part of your body. It can lead to both minor and major health problems. But do you know exactly what happens to your body when you smoke?

What happens when you smoke?
• When you smoke, less oxygen reaches your lungs. Nicotine, the addictive stuff, stimulates your central nervous system, making your heart beat faster and raising your blood pressure. Tar from cigarettes ends up in your lungs.
• Over time, smoking obstructs or narrows the small airways in the lungs and destroys the air sacs there. It clogs arteries and causes blood clots.
This is why smoking tobacco causes so much ill health in Scotland. Every year 13,000 Scots die from smoking-related illnesses. For more statistics on smoking-related illnesses and deaths in Scotland, visit
Code:



The health benefits of stopping
"I feel healthier. I taste my food better. I’m not breathless walking up that hill. I’ve got more money which I spend on nice clothes."- Shelagh, Inverclyde
Stopping smoking not only reduces the risk of getting serious smoking-related diseases, it means you're less likely to have other health problems, such as:
• Gum disease and bad breath
• Coughs and shortness of breath
• Colds and flu
• Mouth ulcers
• High blood pressure
• Asthma attacks
In the long-term, breaking the habit reduces the chances of you suffering from:
• Stroke
• Reduced vision
• Mouth and throat cancer
• Heart disease
• Emphysema and bronchitis
• Lung cancer
• Stomach ulcers
• Bladder cancer
• Infertility
• Peripheral vascular disease, which can lead to gangrene and amputation of limbs
Some of the less well-known benefits of stopping smoking are that wounds and surgical incisions should heal more quickly. For women, the good news is that you're less likely to suffer painful periods and osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) once you've quit.
Thinking of starting a family? Men who smoke may suffer from impotence and produce less sperm. Women who smoke take longer to conceive and are more likely to have a miscarriage or stillbirth. Stopping smoking can improve your chances of conceiving.
Improve your health
It doesn't matter how old you are, how much you smoke or how many years you've been a smoker – giving up can halt at least some of the damage. The heart can pump more blood – and oxygen – around the body with less effort.
Quitting particularly reduces the risk of a heart attack in people with other risk factors like being overweight or who have diabetes, high blood pressure or raised blood cholesterol levels.
As well as affecting your general health, quitting smoking can make a big difference to the way you look. Did you know that stopping smoking can benefit your skin? For a start, you’ll be getting rid of the yellow tar stains from your fingers and the smell of stale smoke from your hair. This will make a difference to how you look and how you feel.
"Folks say I’m looking a lot better. I’m not huffing and blowing."- Arthur, Aberdeen
Benefits to your skin
The benefits of stopping smoking to your appearance can be gained at any point in life, although, obviously, the earlier you think about stopping smoking, the greater the effect on your looks.
The myth that gets many teenagers to take up the habit in the first place – that smoking makes you look older – is sadly true when it comes to your skin.
Smoking reduces the amount of blood flowing to the skin and dries it out. Over time, this means it loses elasticity and gets more wrinkled.
Stopping smoking can have positive effects on your skin. You will improve your skin tone and colour. You're less likely to get wrinkles round your eyes and mouth from squinting when smoke gets in your eyes, and puckering up when you draw on a cigarette.
Quitting smoking lowers your chances of developing psoriasis, a chronic skin condition that can be extremely uncomfortable and disfiguring.
Benefits to your body
Quitting smoking has a good effect on your entire body.
Many smokers believe their habit help keeps their weight down. This is true to some extent. But did you know that smoking affects the shape of your body?
Smoking causes changes in the glands that secrete hormones so smokers store more body fat around their waist and upper torso than their hips. This means smokers are likely to have a higher waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) than non-smokers. A high WHR is associated with a greater risk of developing:
• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Gallbladder problems
• Cancer of the womb and breast in women
Quitting means your body can get back to normal and recover from the effects of smoking.
Benefits to your teeth
It's not just the look of your teeth that can be affected by smoking. Smoking makes it harder for saliva to remove germs in your mouth so you have more chance of getting gum disease, which can lead to premature tooth loss and bad breath. Stopping smoking means whiter teeth and a reduced risk of losing them – with fewer trips to the dentist too, with any luck.
Smoking is a costly habit in more ways than one. The financial cost of smoking should not be underestimated, and giving up can give you some immediate financial benefits.
Think about it, if you smoke an average 20-a-day, you will smoke 7,300 cigarettes a year. Even if you buy cheaper brands, that still means you spend at least £1,500 on cigarettes every year. So the cost of smoking really mounts up.
What could you buy with that? A holiday, maybe. Or a new wardrobe?
If you're a younger smoker, stopping could still mean you're around £8 per week better off. The average weekly cost of smoking for a teenager is roughly the same amount as the cost of a CD or DVD.
"It was 40 a day. It was £8, £9 a day, £60 a week. I realised it was the right time to do it."- Jeff
The cost of smoking
The cost of smoking can be a burden on your household budget. One survey found that if both you and your partner smoke, you could be spending as much as 15% of your income on tobacco.
There are other costs of smoking that you might not have thought about before. Some savings are less obvious:
• Long-term, because you're less at risk of developing a smoking-related disease or disability, you’re also less likely to need to take time off work from ill health, or have to retire early.
• You will pay less for insurance premiums.
• There is reduced risk of damage to your home from fire, and you will save money on cleaning and redecorating to get rid of nicotine stains and the smell of smoke.
You can use our Cost Calculator to work out how much smoking costs you and how quitting could add money to your bank account.
But it's not just you who stands to gain from stopping. Before the smoking ban came in, some calculations were done. It was found that every year Scottish employers lose:
• £450 million in productivity due to smoking
• £40 million from smoking-related absences
The cost of smoking also affects the NHS – £200 million a year in hospital care. Cigarettes and matches are a common cause of fire – several million pounds worth of fire damage to Scottish homes each year is the result of fires caused by cigarettes left burning. Although it is likely to reduce as a result of people giving up smoking and as a result of less people being exposed to second-hand smoke due to the smoking ban, the costs still remain high. Finally, cigarette ends, packets and matches are the most commonly found items of rubbish and therefore add to the cost of keeping our cities and towns tidy.

People who don't smoke still suffer the effects of passive smoking by breathing in 'second-hand smoke' from smokers' cigarettes. There may still be smoke particles in the air even if it doesn't seem smoky. One of the dangers of second-hand smoke is that particles from smoke in the air are smaller than in smoke drawn directly from a cigarette and can penetrate deeper into the lungs.

The effects of passive smoking or second-hand smoke include:
• Eye irritation
• Headache
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Dizziness
• Nausea
"I think most people who do smoke want to give up. It’s very, very hard but I think there is a turning point for everyone. Mine just happened to be my grandson."- Bella, Edinburgh
The effects of passive smoking
A non-smoker who lives with a smoker may be exposed to about 1% of their tobacco smoke from passive smoking. This can increase their chances of developing lung cancer or dying from a heart attack. The same applies to people who work in a smoky atmosphere, which is why Scotland now has a ban on smoking in enclosed public places such as workplaces, pubs and restaurants.

More than impressive........i fully agree with what u have elaborated....and elaborated well

The trend of the smoking is increasing among the generation. So its out responsibility to aware the new generation about the harms of the smoking. Your information is quite valid.

What are the dangers of using:
Cigarettes
Cigars
Pipes
Snuff
Herbal tobacco
Whatever you and I think about cannabis, it is against the law. That is why I have put cannabis under the heading of drugs rather than on this page. Actually, tobacco is a drug, but smoking it is not against the law (unless you are under age) so I have not put it on the drugs page. For that matter, tea and coffee are also considered as drugs.

Smoking cigarettes can cause:
Bronchitis
Emphysema
Lung Cancer
Heart disease
Smoking cigars can cause:
Bronchitis
Cancer of the mouth
Heart disease
It is less likely to cause damage to the lungs because cigar smokers do not usually inhale very much smoke: it is too strong. They are less likely to "chain smoke".

Smoking a pipe can cause:
Bronchitis
Cancer of the mouth or lips
Heart disease
Again, the smoke can be very strong, so pipe smokers are less likely to inhale the smoke.

Taking snuff can cause:
Cancer of the nose
Heart disease
Smoking herbal tobacco can cause:
Bronchitis
Emphysema
Lung cancer
You might have thought that herbal tobacco is safe. Well, it does not contain nicotine so that reduces the chances of getting heart disease, but there will still be tar in the smoke which can damage your lungs.

Most smokers are aware of the dangers of smoking. They may think that they have a right to smoke; after all, it is not against the law. Perhaps it is not so simple. When a smoker ends up in hospital needing treatment for emphysema, or lung cancer, their treatment costs money. The National Health Service is paid for out of our taxes. Their disease costs us money.