Navigating Health

Archive for February 5th, 2010

In the western world, almost 20 percent of deaths are related to smoking. But despite such statistics, people continue to smoke and put their health at risk, mainly because they become addicted to the effects of nicotine in tobacco. This addiction puts the smoker in a vicious cycle or feeding his or her carvings. To be able to give up this disease-inducing habit, you must be motivated to do so and have a lot of will power. Your doctor can discuss other strategies that can help you quit-it could well be the best health decision you ever make. Scientific studies have shown that smoking has various and wide ranging effects on your body. There is also evidence that passive smoking increases the risk of disease.

Smoking encourages the development of atheroma, or fatty plaques, inside arteries around your body. Such furring up of arteries greatly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Smoking raises blood pressure and, by stimulating adrenaline production, it can cause disturbances to heart rhythms. Smokers are more likely to develop clots in a blood vessel, which could prove fatal if part of the clot breaks off and travels to the lungs or the brain. Anyone who has smoking induced lung disease will go to develop smoking related heart disease.

Toxic substances in cigarette smoke directly damage the protective linings of both the upper and the lower respiratory tracts. This makes it much easier for germs to invade and cause a respiratory tract infection, and it also increases the chances of developing asthma. Long term smokers risk by destroying their lungs, a condition known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Smoking is the direct cause of 80 percent of all cases of lung cancer.