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The role that
long-term, heavy smoking plays in developing lung cancer and heart
disease are widely known. But it also plays a significant role in
damaging dozens of other body systems and overall health.
For example, even
apart from specific damage to the lungs or larynx or arteries, smoking
reduces the desire to exercise in most people. By using a chemical to
lower stress, that motive for exercise is reduced. By lowering oxygen
concentration, constricting arteries and causing "smoker's hack" the
incentives for healthy exercise are lowered still further.
The net result is
that smokers tend to be more sedentary. That reduces overall fitness.
As a result, the body is less able to deal with the normal strains put
on it. What would otherwise be minor health problems, become larger and
harder for the immune system to deal with.
Long term, heavy
smoking has more direct effects on the body, in every area. It
increases the odds of acquiring a variety of other cancers, such as
cancer of the esophagus, the stomach and the cervix. It causes a form
of leukemia.
COPD, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, is one of the possible conditions among
long term smokers. About one in four contract it and it's estimated
that 80-90% of COPD cases are among those who smoke. Emphysema, chronic
bronchitis and asthma (types of COPD) are much more prevalent among
smokers than non-smokers.
Smoking ups the
odds of having an aortic abdominal aneurysm (a weakening of the lining
of the blood vessel). That makes it much more likely to rupture, which
is generally fatal if not corrected within minutes.
Postmenopausal
women smokers have, on average, a lower overall bone density than those
who have never smoked. That makes it more likely for them to suffer hip
fractures from falls, a problem among many of the elderly. Such bone
fractures are sometimes fatal, as a result of subsequent complications.
The most well known
ill-health effects from long-term, heavy smoking remain, of course,
lung cancer and heart disease.
'Long term' is
vague, but the longer the habit, the higher the odds. Some UK studies,
for example, show that those in their 30s and 40s are five times more
likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers. Long-term,
one-pack-a-day smokers have 2-4 times the chance of developing coronary
heart disease than do non-smokers.
'Heavy' is equally
vague, but one pack per day is the most often cited figure and it
correlates well with the amount most smokers consume. It's estimated
that 87% of lung cancer cases in the U.S. are the result of smoking a
pack per day for 20 years or more.
Stopping now
provides immediate lowering of the risk. Within 3 months the
circulation improves. After a year, the odds of acquiring heart disease
are half that of a smoker. After 5-15 years, the odds are that of
someone who has never smoked. Don't think it's too late. Start today on
a program to quit smoking.
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