Smoking has been known to slow the healing process of the body, particularly after surgical procedures. This is especially true for orthodontic and dental surgery, which delve into the areas that receive the most direct exposure to tobacco and nicotine. Damage on the gums was originally found to have been aggravated by smoking, accelerating the rate of decay of the gums and teeth. It was later found that it was possible to have no previous dental damage at all and still suffer from the side effects of smoking, because the smoke itself can cause cellular decay in the gums. Another, recently discovered problem is that the smoke slowly undoes any repairs done to the gums through surgery.

Aside from these issues, there are also a number of other problems that smoking can cause the mouth, teeth, and gums. Plaque, for example, becomes significantly harder to clean off. It is unknown what exactly causes this to happen, but smokers tend to have plaque build-up in their mouths that can only be cleaned off by professional tools. This would not be a problem if a person regularly visits a dentist for teeth cleaning oral prophylaxis, a procedure that should be done every six months. This runs the risk of letting the bacteria in the plaque slowly eat away at the teeth, with some cases seeking help for the problem too late.

There is also a pronounced risk of the bone and support structure of the teeth being eaten away. Smoking is known to slowly kill off the cells in the gums, as well as impede upon natural regeneration in that area. This can be dangerous if the gums and bones that support the teeth are already compromised by bacteria, tooth decay, or other damage. The fibers that hold the teeth in place recede when exposed to tobacco, loosening the teeth. This may be a slow process, but that only makes it such that most people simply fail to notice the problem until it is too late and the damage has already been done.

However, it isn’t just cigarette smoke that causes these problems. Even smoke-less products that are based on tobacco cause this damage, often in comparably similar degrees. According to several studies, both cigars and pipes cause the same cellular degeneration and damage rates as cigarette smoke. So far, all indications point to the problem being firmly rooted in the tobacco in the products and not necessarily the smoke itself.

In a normal body, cells grow and divide in an orderly manner. However, this order can break down. When this collapse in order occurs, cells begin dividing and growing at will and chaos results. This resulting chaos and breakdown of normal cell growth is called cancer.

Normally, cancer will appear as a tumor, or perhaps even the dreaded “growth”. In some cases, the cancer will remain isolated to a particular spot or organ. However, it is not entirely uncommon for cancer to spread beyond its initial area into other regions of the body or organs. Spreading cancer is also known as metastasis. Lung cancer has been known to spread into other organs of the body and speed the demise of the patient.

Tobacco is a known and proven carcinogen. A carcinogen is any cancer-causing agent. However, just because something is a carcinogen does not necessarily mean that coming into contact one like tobacco smoke will not guarantee lung cancer in your future. Scientists can, on the other hand, tell you how much more likely you are to get lung cancer if you continue to expose your body to tobacco smoke.

The risks of lung cancer due to tobacco smoke are too great to ignore. A person smoking one pack a day has increased their odds for getting lung cancer by 30 X’s or more when compared to a nonsmoker. And, the more cigarettes you smoke every day, the greater those odds become. Plus, the number of years a person smokes continually increases their chances of developing lung cancer or other smoking-related diseases such as emphysema.

So, if someone were to quit smoking today after having done so for 10 years, how long do you think it would take for their risks of getting lung cancer to return to normal? Believe it or not, it takes 15 years after a person quits smoking for their odds to equal those of a nonsmoker of the same age—15 years!!

Lung cancer is a merciless killer of thousands of Americans each and every year. It generally takes decades of smoking to lead to the condition but it has been found in people in their 20’s who smoked since they were teenagers. Worse still, lung cancer is a very painful condition that can truly make the last months of life a true burden to bear. While you can still develop lung cancer even if you never smoke, the odds for developing this painful disease increase dramatically when tobacco is part of your life. If you are a smoker, tomorrow may very well be too late to quit so make sure you kick the habit today or prepare to see lung cancer in your future tomorrow.

The effects of smoking varies from person to person as it will depend on the person’s vulnerability to the chemical in cigarette or tobacco smoke. It will also depend on the number of cigarette sticks a person smokes per day, the age when the person first started to smoke, and the number of years the person has been smoking.

According to recent studies, every year hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe die from medical complications caused by smoking. Aside from the stench it leaves on one’s clothes, breath, and hair, it also has other complications. Here are some of the different effects of smoking:
Immediate effects upon smoking a cigarette stick:
 Raises a person’s blood pressure and heart rate.
 Decreases a person’s blood flow to body extremities like the fingers and toes.
 The brain and the nervous system is stimulated for a short time and then reduced.
 Dizziness.
 Nausea.
 Watery eyes.
 Hyperacidity.
 Weakened sense of taste and smell.
 Loss of appetite.
Other effects:
 Shortness of breath.
 Chronic coughing
 Reduced overall fitness.
 Yellowish stain on the smoker’s fingers and teeth.
 Smokers experience more coughs and colds as compared to non-smokers.
 Difficulty recovering from minor illnesses.
 Impotence for men, infertility for women.
 Facial wrinkles appear at an early age, making them look older than non-smokers of the same age.

Because they experience these different side effects, they have a higher risk of developing diseases like:
respiratory tract infections (like pneumonia and chronic bronchitis)
emphysema (collapse of the small airways in the lungs)
heart attack and other coronary diseases
different kinds of cancers (lungs, throat, mouth, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, and stomach)
stomach ulcers
peripheral vascular disease due to a decreased blood flow to the legs.

Once a person becomes addicted to cigarettes, they may find themselves experiencing different withdrawal symptoms when they decide to stop. These withdrawal symptoms include:
increased nervousness and tension
agitation
loss of concentration
change in sleep patterns
headaches
coughs
strong cravings

For pregnant women, it is important to know that the growing child in their womb may suffer if they continue smoking. The effects of smoking to a growing fetus include: low birth weight, premature birth, or stillbirth. Even those who do not smoke are at risk of incurring diseases. Second hand smoke may cause lung cancer or heart problems to those who passively inhale smoke exhaled by smokers.

Smoking may make a person look cool or macho, but you should consider more than just how it would make you look. Keep in mind that smoking has harmful effects that can end up claiming your life. Before you light up your next cigarette, think of the various harmful effects of smoking and if you’d want that to happen to you.