Medicosnext
Words by: Ojaswee Karki
Although tobacco has been around for centuries, our knowledge of the harm smoking does to the body is far more recent. It wasn’t until the late 1940s and early 1950s that smoking was first connected to lung cancer and other illnesses.
Smoke from tobacco cigarettes contains several compounds that harm healthy lung tissue. These substances, known as carcinogens, alter cellular DNA when they come into contact with lung cells, which can result in the development of cancer cells that grow unchecked and have the ability to spread throughout the body. Roughly, 9 out of 10 lung cancer deaths are linked to smoking.
A 2016 study found that a smoker who smokes a pack of cigarettes per day has roughly 150 mutations in the DNA of any particular lung cell per year. That equates to around one mutation per cell every 2.5 days. Every mutation does not always cause issues. However, if a person acquires an erroneous mutation, may get lung cancer, the chances of which are increased by smoking.
According to the 2020 Surgeon General’s report, cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals out of which 70 are carcinogens. Some of the most harmful of these include: tobacco-specific nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes, arsenic, ammonia, radioactive compounds, and carbon monoxide. Some carcinogens, such as cadmium and lead, are derived from the soil in which tobacco is cultivated. However, the majority of carcinogens are produced by the combustion of tobacco.
Carcinogens enter the lungs and then the bloodstream, where they reach every organ in the body when a person inhales smoke. Carcinogens are most concentrated in the lungs, although every organ in the body is affected. In addition to lung cancer, smoking has been related to an elevated risk of other forms of cancer such as leukemia and cancers of the mouth, nose, throat, esophagus, stomach, kidney, liver, pancreas, colon, ovaries, bladder, cervix.
Other types of lung illness, such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma, can be caused. Smoking accounts for about 80% of COPD deaths.
Smoking cigarettes also affects the circulatory system, the reproductive system, the skin, and the eyes.
Cigarette chemicals and tar can raise a person’s risk of atherosclerosis, or the formation of plaque in blood vessels. This accumulation restricts blood flow, can cause deadly blockages, and raises the risk of peripheral artery disease. This further increases the risk of blood clots, angina, stroke, and heart attack.
Cigarette smoking can harm a woman’s reproductive system and make it more difficult to conceive. In men smoking increases the risk of erectile dysfunction and can also lower fertility by lowering the quality of sperm.
According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), those who smoke on a daily basis have a 30-40% greater chance of acquiring type 2 diabetes. Smoking might also make it more difficult for diabetics to control their disease.
Cigarette smoking can impair a person’s immune system, making them more prone to sickness, and can lead to eye disorders, such as an increased risk of cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration.
Tobacco use can harm a person’s skin and hair. Smokers may have prematurely aged and wrinkled skin. It can cause hair loss and baldness and also cause nail discoloration.
