40 Things You Didn’t Know About Smoking
As an ex-smoker myself I was even surprised at some of these fact from Coopers Guns
- Smoking kills half of all smokers worldwide
- Smokers are at increased risk of back pain
- Smoking accelerates aging
- One person every five minutes dies because of smoking in the UK
- Smokers suffer from skin problems. Most smokers have paler, dryer skin, with more wrinkles due to a reduced blood supply that allows the skin to lose its elasticity
- Smoking depletes the body of vitamin C by 30%
- Smoking damages the gut
- Nicotine increases cholesterol in the blood
- Smoking damages your teeth and gums and causes mouth ulcers
- Smoking doubles the risk of dementia
- Smoking causes cataracts to form in the eyes
- There are 6000 chemicals in tobacco including cyanide, butane, ammonia and carbon monoxide
- Smoking makes you six times more likely to suffer a stroke
- Smoking during pregnancy kills 5000 foetuses a year, increases the risk of intellectual impairment, produces a small, underweight baby more prone to allergies and brain damage and trebles the risk of cot death after birth.
- Smoking causes early menopause in women
- Every system in the body is affected by smoking, including the heart and vascular system
- Smoking weakens the immune system
- Smoking increases the risk of diabetes
- Smoking reduces exercise tolerance
- Smoking increases the risk of pneumonia
- 87% of smokers deaths are due to lung cancer
- Smoking doubles infertility in women
- Smoking weakens bones by de-mineralising them
- Smoking also hits your pocket. If you smoke twenty cigarettes a day of the cheapest brand you will spend at least £1500 every year
- Nicotine is more addictive than heroin and alcohol and is delivered to the nervous system within seven seconds for a quick fix
- Smoking increases the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders developing
- Smoking depletes antioxidants within the body
- Smoking raises blood pressure - a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes
- Giving up smoking reduces the risk of heart disease and strokes within 2- 4 years of giving up
- Smoking damages sperm and increases erectile dysfunction by 50% in men aged 30 – 40yrs
- Smoking increases age related hearing loss
- Smoking causes bad breath and gum disease, which can lead to teeth falling out
- 15% of childhood cancers have been attributed to the mother smoking during pregnancy
- Smoking causes Coronary Heart Disease
- Overall risk of mortality returns to normal after 10-15 years of non smoking
- Smoking can cause fatigue and headaches
- Smoking causes 80% of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cases. An umbrella term for a number of conditions were breathlessness gradually increases leading to death
- Smoking decreases your sense of smell and taste
- Smoking reduces life expectancy by 7-8 years
- Smoking kills around 114,000 people in the UK each year
There’s some interesting facts about the financial and health costs of smoking here.
http://lifestyle.aol.co.uk/health/why-you-should-quit/article/20070614110409990001
Input how much and how long you’ve smoked and it’ll produce some startling facts.
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