Campaigns against the use of tobacco have been rampant ever since people found out about the excruciatingly painful consequences it could give smokers and non-smokers alike. Despite this, production and consumption has continued, and along with it comes the countless patients paying the price.
We’ve always been aware of the negative effects smoking tobacco can have on the body, often relying on medicines for coughs and colds as short-term remedies for its consequences. We discourage our loved ones from practicing the habit, telling them that it would lead to serious health complications if they don’t stop. Nothing can be further from the truth! Listed below are some of the health problems tobacco smokers (and non-smokers) can contract:
Lung Diseases
Let’s start with the most obvious! Smoking tobacco damages lungs the most and it can leads to many types of pulmonary diseases from chronic bronchitis to emphysema. In some cases, it could even lead to lung cancer!
Heart Diseases
Tobacco smokers are also more prone to a number of heart diseases. The habit leaves their blood vessels damaged and their heart beating at a faster rate, causing their blood pressure to go up as well as their blood to clot unhealthily. If unchecked, these symptoms would subsequently lead to various cardiovascular illnesses like stoke and heart attack!
Cancer
As mentioned above, smoking could lead to lung cancer. But did you know that it could also lead to other types of malignant cancers like those on the blood, bladder, cervix, esophagus, kidney, stomach, and oropharynx? Better believe it! Smoking tobacco increases your risk of having tumor in your body.
Diabetes
It’s proven that smokers are 30 to 40% more prone to having diabetes than non-smokers. That’s right! Sugar isn’t the only white devil that could ruin your pancreas. In fact, studies also show that smoking tobacco can increase your risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus!
Pregnancy Risks
Pregnant women who smoke tobacco can bring negative, if not devastating, effects on her baby’s health. Smoking can increase the risk of a lot of pregnancy hazards, including low birth weight, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), ectopic pregnancy, orofacial clefts, and, most horrible of all, stillbirths.
Oral Infection
Lastly, by smoking tobacco, you risk losing good dental hygiene. Not only does it cause your teeth to go yellowy, but it would also cause a whole truckload of other dental infections like bad breath, bleeding gums, tartar, and teeth loss.
As you may well have observed above, tobacco use has been identified to be damaging and disturbing to your body and health. You should also know that smoking causes more deaths each year than the combined cases of HIV, drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle accidents and firearm-related incidents. You can just read the studies made by various health organizations around the world to fully understand how dangerous it could be.
Smoking is never a good habit to keep. So don’t start at all if you can help it. But if you already did, then don’t worry! By minimizing tobacco use (if you can’t stop it altogether yet), you’ll be able to reduce its consequences and get your health back on track.