Five Adverse Health Effects of Smoking

Smoking tobacco products is bad for you. Period. End of story.

There is absolutely nothing good that happens to your body when you put that cigarette or any other tobacco product into your mouth. The American Lung Association has estimated that over 7,000 chemicals are released when you light up.

That's 7,000 chemicals that are not only going into your body and putting you at risk, but also putting the health of other's around you at risk. If this has already convinced you that smoking isn't a good choice, great! You can stop reading this article and go live your healthy life.

However, if you're still reading this and are unconvinced of the incredibly devastating health risks associated with smoking tobacco products; continue reading and you'll soon be convinced. Afterwards, look into picking up an e-cigarette and some premium e-liquid to begin the process of quitting smoking.

1. Your lungs and entire respiratory system are put at risk

   It should come as no surprise to anyone that smoking puts the health of your lungs at risk. The smoke you inhale and the thousands of chemicals it contains can damage your lungs beyond repair if not stopped.

   How this works is that your lungs naturally filter the air you breathe in from the environment around you. The constant inflow of dangerous chemicals and smoke from cigarettes and other products hampers the ability of your lungs to filter out the bad stuff. This means that toxins are essentially stuck in your lungs and put you at risk for many chronic and deadly diseases.

   Smoking puts you at risk for anything from Emphysema to Pneumonia to Chronic Bronchitis. Smoking around others puts them at risk for asthma attacks and increased coughing.

2. Your skin, fingernails, and even hair start to show the adverse effects of smoking

   Smoking doesn't just affect in the inside of your body. Oh no, smoking tobacco products has extreme effects on your skin, fingernails, and hair over prolonged periods of smoking.

   For example, smoking will cause your skin to yellow and increase the amount of wrinkles you have. Your hair will hold on to the smell of that tobacco smoke for as long as it can. You'll often smell smoke around you, even if you haven't smoked for some time. That's because your hair can hold onto scents for long periods of time. This can even happen to non-smokers who spend time with smokers. Fingernails will also get more yellow over time from holding the cigarettes.

3. Smoking can be detrimental to your vision
   What about your eyes and vision? Smoking can't possibly have harmful effects on that. Well, you would be wrong there, my friend.

   Smoking tobacco products has been shown to increase the risk of various vision problems such as macular degeneration and optic nerve damage. All of these can be extremely detrimental to the quality of your vision.

4. You're at extreme risk of developing various cancers
   Because of the incredible amount of chemicals in tobacco products (over 7,000, remember!), you're putting yourself and others at risk for developingcancer. And it's not just lung cancer you're at risk for. Smoking has been shown to be linked to the development of stomach cancer, pancreas cancer, colon cancer, and many more.

   This is the most deadly aspect of smoking that you need to remember before picking up that cigarette or tobacco product. The risk of cancer is enormous and as any cancer survivor will tell you, it's no laughing matter.

5. Smoking compromises your immune system

   When you smoke and put all of those dangerous chemicals in your body, your immune system is put at risk. Your immune system keeps you safe from all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. However, the chemicals in tobacco products really hurt the effectiveness of your immune system to fight diseases.

   Therefore, smoking hurts your immune system and in turn, makes you even more susceptible to debilitating diseases. It's a vicious cycle.

   We all learn in school how bad smoking is for us. However, as adults, some of us continue to pick up those tobacco products. Take the advice of every health professional out there and put that cigarette down before you put your life and the lives of others around you at risk.