Smoking is the use of a cigarette or tobacco product which entails inhalation of the smoke it produces. Many people are addicted to smoking due to the effects the element Nicotine has on our body. The knowledge of the hazards of smoking are overcome by the intense need or craving to smoke.

It cannot be denied that there are numerous advertising campaigns extolling the hazards of smoking. In spite of these efforts, smoking is still prevalent in many adults and also under age teens. Peer pressure and curiosity play a big role in the introduction of smoking to young adults and children. Many schools have implemented teaching their students the hazards of smoking.

What We Get from Smoking

The hazards of smoking encompass many systems in our body. Among the primary systems affected by the hazards of smoking are the circulatory system and the respiratory system. As the smoker sucks in the smoke from the cigarette, it passes through the mouth and into the lungs.

From the lungs, the element nicotine is distributed along with our blood and oxygen to various parts of the body. Nicotine acts as a constrictor for the blood vessels and veins and decreases their efficacy to bring blood and necessary nourishment and oxygen.

Other hazards of smoking include the risk of suffering from a heart attack, increasing an individual’s susceptibility to heart disease and lung disease. Among the hazards of smoking that affects the lungs are bronchitis, emphysema, asthma and many others. As for the heart, the hazards of smoking present themselves as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, strokes and heart attack.

Among the many hazards of smoking, contracting cancer is among the most dreaded. Lung cancer is foremost in the list of cancers caused by smoking as well as cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx and esophagus. These are actually where the smoke itself passes as the smoker inhales it. The hazards of smoking also include several cancers that develop and attack the pancreas, kidneys, stomach, bladder and other organs.

There are actually so many hazards of smoking and more are found to be connected to smoking as time goes by. One of the most recent is the connection between age related blindness and smoking. These dangers and side effects should be enough to stop smokers from smoking but it seems that it is not so. Many adults are still smoking and children from as young as 12 years old are starting to smoke as well.