7 Deadly Conditions You Can Get From Smoking

Although substantial efforts have been put in place to reduce tobacco smoking, the rate of smoking in Africa remains significantly high, killing at least 146,000 people yearly.[1] For some, it’s a social habit. Some others see it as an easy way to relieve stress and temporarily evade their troubles. However, several types of research have shown that smoking is the underlying cause of several diseases. So whatever your reason is, I sincerely think it’s not enough to expose yourself to these deadly diseases. In case you’re oblivious to these diseases, I’ve created a list of 7 common conditions caused by smoking.

Lung Cancer

In case you didn’t know, smoking exposes you to over 15 types of cancer! However, lung cancer appears to be the most common and deadliest. According to research by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, over 19.3 million cases of cancer were reported in 2020 and over 11.4% of these cases were lung cancer cases. This means that almost 2 million lung cancer cases were reported in 2020. Now that’s quite a number! Other research has shown that smoking contributes to 90% of deaths caused by lung cancer. Sounds pretty unbelievable, right? I was even shocked! There are about 7000 chemicals in a cigarette and over 70 of them cause cancer. What these chemicals do is damage your lung cells, causing them to swell. In your body’s attempt to fix the damage, other healthy tissues may break down. Also, smoking can cause loss of lung function. This means that your lung puts in more work in getting oxygen to vital organs of the body such as your heart and brain. And I’m guessing you know what happens when your brain and heart don’t receive oxygen -they stop working!

COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)

COPD is a group of lung diseases that restrict airflow and make breathing difficult. It includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. At least 85% of COPD deaths are a result of smoking! Generally, exposure to cigarette smoke, pipe smoke, secondhand smoke, fumes and chemicals in industries, and dust can cause COPD. It may start casually with symptoms like:

Mild cough
Shortness of breath especially during physical activity
Wheezing (whistling sound made while breathing)

Then they spiral into severe symptoms like:

Lack of energy
Chronic cough
Noisy breathing
Swelling of feet
Fatigue
Weight loss, etc.

PS: Second-hand smoke is smoke exhaled by a smoker or the smoke that fills the environment when tobacco products are burnt. And it is just as hazardous as first-hand smoke.

Heart Disease

A smoker’s risk of heart attack is twice as high as that of a non-smoker. A heart attack can occur when a blood clot forms as a result of smoking, blocking blood flow to the heart. Moreso, in the absence of oxygen and nutrients, the heart muscles gradually die. Also, cigarettes contain a chemical called Nicotine which can cause blockage or narrowing of arteries. As a result, your heart receives a lesser amount of blood than it is used to. This makes the heart work harder to pump blood around the body. As a result of the excess workload on it, the heart grows weaker until it finally stops. Second-hand smoke can also weaken the walls of your blood vessels, increase blood clots and even accelerate your blood pressure.

Stroke

When you smoke, your blood begins to form clots. These clots can flow towards your brain and block its blood supply, which leads to severe brain damage. Also, smoking thickens your arteries making them narrow. Consequently, this will lead to an abnormal increase in heart rate and blood pressure. And the increase in blood pressure can lead to stroke. One study shows that smokers have a two to four-fold increased risk of stroke compared to non-smokers.

Reproductive Problems

Smoking can affect reproduction in both men and women. For a man to have an erection, blood must flow into the blood vessels supplying the male genitalia. Cigarette smoke can block these vessels, thereby rendering the organ dormant and unable to rise. At this point, even drugs may not be able to save you because when you smoke, your body undergoes some reactions which render most erectile dysfunction meds ineffective. So if you want your woman to enjoy every night with you, quit smoking. The chemicals in cigarettes like benzo(a)pyrene can cause infertility by damaging the DNA in the eggs and sperm. [2] In women, smoking can lead to ectopic pregnancy (a pregnancy in which the fetus implants and develops outside the uterus) and also accelerate menopause. Furthermore, smoking during pregnancy can result in birth, miscarriage, and low birthweight.

Asthma

Asthma is a disease of the airways of the lung characterized by severe difficulty in breathing. Asthma attacks occur when the lining of the airways becomes irritated by certain substances. When this happens, the airways swell and become narrow. This reduces the amount of air that gets to the lungs. These attacks could be mild, heavy, and even life-threatening! Tobacco smoking, as well as second-hand smoking, is a common trigger of asthma attacks. Smoking also causes damage to the cilia (tiny hair-like projections in the airways). These cilia help in eliminating dust and mucus from the airway. Damaging them will leave you exposed to respiratory diseases.[3]

Diabetes

A 4-year study conducted in Korea on about 4000 men showed that both past and current smokers had higher risks of Type-2 diabetes. Nicotine, which is a major constituent of cigarettes, increases insulin resistance(the body’s responsiveness to insulin). This can make your blood sugar level spiral out of control. Also, your body’s level of LDL cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins) may go up when you smoke and high cholesterol is connected to diabetes. In addition, your body cells can get damaged by the chemicals in cigarettes which may lead to inflammation. And inflammation raises your body’s level of insulin resistance. I wish I could sugarcoat this, but there’s no other way to say this; Smoking will KILL YOU! There’s no safe way to smoke nor is there a safe type of cigarette. The best thing you can do is never to start. And if you’ve started, find a way to quit as soon as possible. The earlier you stop the better.

How To Quit Smoking For Good

Identify the root cause of your problem

As they say, if you want to solve a problem, you tackle it from the root. Similarly, if you want to quit smoking, you must identify the reason you started in the first place. Was it a social habit? Something you did to relieve stress and anxiety? Or was it just for pleasure? If you don’t identify the root cause, you are likely to go back to it.

Have a strong reason to quit.

It could be for your family or to improve your health. Whatever reason you choose, make sure it’s strong enough to keep you from running back to your smoking habits.

Nicotine replacement therapy.

This method involves getting nicotine from any substance other than tobacco. It increases a smoker’s chances of quitting by 55%. There are different types of NRT, they are chewing gum, adhesive patches, inhaler, nose sprays, etc

Seek medical help/Counselling

Go to a professional for help. These people are in the best position to help because they are experienced and have dealt with different kinds of smokers. Going to a friend, relative, pastor or mentor isn’t a bad idea but they can’t do much for you.

Keep yourself busy. When those cravings arise, suppress them by engaging in another activity that requires your full attention. Do something like reading, watching a movie, playing games, etc.
Remove any smoke-related items

Items like lighters, ashtrays, smoking pipes, etc may remind you of your smoking escapades

Replace your initial reason for smoking with something productive

If your reason for smoking is for stress and anxiety relief, replace smoking with exercise. If it was a social habit, don’t replace it with alcohol because alcohol can trigger those cigarette cravings. Rather replace it with something like playing non-smoke-related games.