What harm does smoking cause to your health? The organs that suffer the most from smoking. Smoking and lung cancer

From the early age People from all sides hear that smoking is harmful to health. And very strongly, in any situation, regardless of the brand or strength of cigarettes. But even this does not stop a person from the temptation to smoke. So what is the danger of this terrible human addiction?

The effect of nicotine on the body

Nicotine, which is present in any type of cigarette, is highly addictive. And there is a simple explanation for this.

The human body is capable of producing small amounts of nicotine on its own. Systematic smoking is dangerous due to excessive intake of this substance. Therefore, the human body stops producing it to eliminate the possibility of an overdose. The brain continues to signal a lack of nicotine. So again and again.

The respiratory system is also affected. Tobacco smoke, coupled with the substances it contains, causes serious damage to it. People who smoke become predisposed to respiratory diseases. Severe irritation cough-inducing, occurs on the mucous membrane respiratory tract, bronchi and lungs. The movement of air through the coarsened tissues of organs is significantly hampered. Most main danger There remains a real possibility for a person to develop cancer. And the statistics on this issue are not at all on the side of the smoker.

Memory impairment as a result of the death of brain cells, ulcers due to increased acidity gastric juice– the consequences can be listed endlessly. It is not for nothing that there is a truism that “smoking is harmful to health.” There is no doubt about the veracity of this phrase.

Diseases of people addicted to nicotine

Most often, a person who smokes can develop a lot of serious diseases:

• cancerous lesions oral cavity;
• bronchitis;
• cardiac ischemia;
• violation vascular circulation in the lower extremities;
• stroke;
• emphysema;
• sexual weakness and impotence in men.

Improve general state A man can improve his health, as well as his sexual effectiveness, by completely freeing himself from nicotine. Quitting smoking helps improve blood circulation in the genitals. In addition, the quality of sperm is noticeably improved.

Danger to the fair sex

Woman and smoking – these concepts should be mutually exclusive. But, unfortunately, statistics say the opposite. Up to 35% of the female population suffers from this addiction.

Smoking affects the reproductive system of girls - a violation is observed menstrual cycle, the chance of successful fertilization decreases, just as the possibility of successful pregnancy and birth decreases healthy baby. A child who has not yet been born is under the negative influence of many antigenic and mutagenic substances, which is certainly dangerous for the future person. Baby fetus:

• significantly slows down in its development;
• feels constant oxygen deficiency;
• During pregnancy and the first year of life, there may be underweight;
• there are high risks of detecting congenital pathologies.

It is also destructive, since nicotine, together with mother's milk enters the infant's body. The child’s organs and systems that are not fully formed suffer first. He may cry constantly and for no reason, be aggressive and irritable, and have trouble sleeping at night. Such children have a very high risk of developing diseases of the respiratory system, their body is quite susceptible to various allergens, and their learning abilities are lower than those of their peers.

Doctors recommend stopping smoking a year before conception, which will allow you to count on the birth of a healthy baby. Thus, the expectant mother is able to protect her child from consequences that may become noticeable much later than the actual birth.

Another negative point that affects more of the fair half of humanity. Nicotine has a detrimental effect on collagen, which leads to the formation of wrinkles and early aging of women.

Effective methods to combat nicotine addiction

It often happens that neither medications, nor advice, nor consultations help in the fight against addiction. First of all, you need to want to get rid of this ridiculous activity. It is important to analyze the positive and negative points of your addiction. If you approach this task soberly and consciously, there will be an absolute majority of minuses.

There is an excellent way to quit tobacco - the Allen Carr method, the effectiveness of which has already been recognized by millions of people. With the help of the author, a smoker learns the mechanisms of how nicotine affects the body and becomes convinced that a cigarette does not save you from stress, does not help you relax, and is absolutely useless.

Quitting smoking is best done “one day at a time,” once and for all. In this case, it is very important to realize the futility, meaninglessness and foreignness of the habit. Remember that the length of your addiction does not affect your ability to quit. Anyone can throw!

An alternative to a cigarette: salvation or a marketing ploy?

Electronic cigarettes are taking over society at an astonishing rate. But can they help a person give up a serious addiction?

No. Replacing a regular cigarette electronic, people continue to supply their bodies with nicotine and other harmful substances. This means that this is not a panacea for addiction, but just a new way of smoking. Is it worth changing one for the other? Perhaps there is no need to continue to deceive yourself. In this way, it is impossible to overcome either physical or psychological addictions.

It is important to remember that temporarily quitting smoking is not a victory. Not everyone can cope with the urge to reach for a cigarette after another stressful situation or at a festive banquet. There are several tips for this case:

• you need to avoid those companies where there are smoking people;
• it is necessary to exclude the use of alcoholic beverages;
• circumstances that make one remember addiction should be removed as far as possible;
• it's never too late to start playing sports;
• It is recommended to change your diet, make it more healthy (for example, add enough fruits and vegetables to it).

The main allies in the war against smoking are your own confidence and calm. It is important to please and pamper yourself with pleasant moments and thoughts (for example, how much money has already been saved, etc.). The ability to relax without a cigarette comes with time. During this period, it is very important not to succumb to signals from the brain about the lack of harmful substances in the body.

In addition, Allen Carr's book has already been mentioned, which can become excellent assistants in the battle for healthy image life. After reading it, people often radically change their views on smoking. According to statistics, it helps you quit nicotine easily and quickly in 95% of cases.

Don't change yourself! Be adamant in your firm decision to quit smoking! And then success will not take long to arrive.

Expert opinion

Modern society underestimates how destructive smoking can be. It is common to talk about risks associated with the lungs, heart and blood vessels. But most people do not suspect that basic brain functions are also affected, endocrine system, and destruction also occurs at the intercellular level. People who smoke have a hard time believing this, since the whole process of destruction and poisoning occurs very slowly. For them this is a familiar state. But regardless of whether a person feels the harmful effects of smoking or not, the harm to health is colossal. Including from electronic cigarettes or chewing tobacco.

Our country is no exception: the existing anti-smoking laws in Russia impose restrictions on the sale of tobacco products to minors and limit smoking in in public places, prohibit it in educational and medical institutions. And still, no one is protected from the harmful effects of smoking - even if you don’t smoke yourself, you are often “ passive smoker“, forced to inhale tobacco smoke while being near smokers.

In Russia, 65% of men and over 30% of women smoke. Of these, 80% of men and 50% of women began smoking in adolescence. Over the past 20 years, the proportion of smokers has increased by 440 thousand people, and this is due to young people and women. At the age of 15-19 years, 40% of boys and 7% of girls smoke.

According to WHO, the impact of smoking on a person is so high that on average, every six seconds, one person dies from tobacco-related diseases in the world, and five million people die from this cause every year. If the trend of increasing smoking prevalence continues unabated, 10 million people are projected to die prematurely each year by 2020. And by 2030, the impact of smoking on human health will become one of the strongest factors leading to premature death.

Who pushes us to smoke? These are, first of all, adults who constantly tell children about the dangers of smoking, but nevertheless continue to do it themselves. Teenagers, despite the nausea, vile taste and smell, start smoking to look “modern and cool”, and only after a while they realize that they have fallen into a trap. This happens when serious problems, caused by the effects of smoking on the body, related to health, lack of money or the fact that we have once again been made to feel like “lepers”, since smoking is now recognized as an antisocial phenomenon.

All smokers are aware of the health effects of smoking and regret ever picking up their first cigarette, but most continue to smoke because they are aware of the devastating health effects of nicotine. In addition, a person who smokes always stands out with darkened teeth, heavy breathing, prematurely aged skin.

Why smoking is bad for your health

Everyone knows that smoking is harmful to health, but what exactly happens to our body when smoking? Our bronchi are lined with ciliated epithelium, which is very vulnerable and sensitive to influence. external environment. Negative influence smoking on the human body is, first of all, superficial burns of the bronchi. Over time, this leads to the death of the epithelium, which in turn creates conditions for penetration various infections, as well as for the development of oncological pathology, tuberculosis and other diseases.

The lungs and blood vessels suffer from the carcinogenic tars and radioactive substances contained in tobacco, and the muscles and all organs of the smoker are exposed to oxygen starvation. The harm of smoking is also that this habit causes changes in the body that can manifest themselves decades and even a generation later.

You can give an endless list of how smoking is harmful, and name many diseases that arise as a result of inhaling tobacco smoke, ranging from cardiovascular diseases to cancer.

Why is smoking harmful to health?

Nicotine increases heart rate, narrows arteries, increases blood pressure Therefore, smoking is one of the three main risk factors for coronary artery disease.

Smoking is also harmful to the body because smokers have a significantly higher risk of developing strokes.

Atherosclerosis of the arteries of the lower extremities, leading to their blockage with the development of severe pain and sometimes gangrene, develops in smokers 5 times more often.

Women over 35 years of age taking oral contraceptives are at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases low under one condition - if they do not smoke.

Another reason why smoking is harmful is that it provokes the development of tumors of the lips, tongue, pharynx, trachea, and esophagus.

Out of 100 cases of tuberculosis, up to 75 occur in smokers.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy leads to the birth of children with low survival rates.

Every “experienced” smoker suffers from a debilitating cough and headaches. Over the years the list physical suffering expands and worries more and more, but does not always stop. Numerous attempts to give up this addiction lead to another breakdown, and the circle closes.

A person who finds himself dependent on smoking must realize that this is not just a habit, but a disease called nicotine addiction.

Tobacco contains nicotine, a narcotic substance that is quickly addictive to the smoker. The effect of nicotine on the brain during each puff is much faster than a dose of heroin during intravenous administration. 30 minutes after smoking, the level of nicotine in the blood drops by half, and within an hour - to one quarter. As soon as the effect of nicotine wears off, the smoker begins to feel the need for another dose, and from that moment on, EVERYTHING is subordinated only to the desire to smoke a cigarette. If a person is deprived of this opportunity, he begins to get nervous, irritated, cannot concentrate, and begins to experience a feeling similar to severe hunger.

All smokers find it incredibly difficult to quit smoking, but nicotine is the fastest-acting drug and you will never be extremely dependent on it. It takes only three weeks to remove 99% of nicotine from the body, so there is virtually no physical suffering compared to what drug addicts experience during withdrawal. Basically it's an unsettling feeling of emptiness. Breakdowns occur due to the fact that, as it seems to a smoking person, he loses a sense of confidence, the ability to concentrate, and is deprived of great pleasure. In reality, everything happens exactly the opposite: by smoking a cigarette, the smoker only gains a state of stability for a short time and drags himself into a quagmire from which there is no way out.

Three stages of smoking

There are three stages of smoking:

• Stage 1: Irregular smoking; Psychological dependence.
• Stage 2: Long-term smoking; Psychophysiological dependence.
• Stage 3: Heavy smoking; Physiological dependence.

Remember how you feel when you return home late and find that you have run out of cigarettes! You will feel like a prisoner until you break the chains of smoking. If your dependence on nicotine has become physiological and repeated attempts to overcome this habit have not been successful, then in this case you should not give up. Don't hide from yourself. As with any disease, there is a way out - you need to seek help from specialists.

Treatment methods for tobacco smoking

Quitting smoking is difficult due to withdrawal symptoms: insomnia, irritability, nervousness, and a tendency to gain weight. More than 50% of people who try to quit smoking return to the habit again after three months. Most smokers are well aware of the health risks of smoking, but tend to unconsciously downplay them.

Treatment for smoking should be aimed at eliminating nicotine withdrawal and symptoms of tobacco intoxication, as well as the development of a new behavioral model in the smoker. The choice of tactics in the treatment of tobacco smoking largely depends on psychological readiness patient to quit smoking.

One of the methods of treating tobacco smoking is treatment programs:

1. Educational program - “Seminar School”, which includes group and individual counseling.

2. Treatment program for patients with high degree readiness to quit smoking (for complete refusal from smoking)

Behavioral methods: self-help methods, rational psychotherapy and medical recommendations, group methods of psychological support, hypnotherapy (suggestion under hypnosis, leading to the subconscious destruction of psycho-emotional connections that caused the craving for smoking), aversion therapy (developing an aversion to smoking).

Another method of treating smoking is physiological effects.

Medication methods: nicotine replacement therapy ( chewing gum, patches, nasal sprays), psychotropic drugs.

Non-drug methods: reflexology (exposure to certain points connected by nerve pathways to specific areas of the brain with special needles). It is believed that smoking is an acquired reflex that can be corrected in this way. Adherents of acupuncture claim that high efficiency this method.

The harm of smoking light cigarettes

Many smokers, concerned about their health, try to reduce the harmful effects of tobacco by switching to so-called “light” cigarettes.

Light cigarettes are so called because they “weigh” less and differ only in the number of holes in the filter through which additional air is sucked in. Their action is based on reducing the concentration of nicotine and tar with the help of additionally sucked in air. New technologies have helped reduce the amount of tobacco leaf required per cigarette by almost half. The tobacco industry calls the new cigarettes “light” and “ultra-light.” The consumer proceeds from the assumption that if one pack of cigarettes says 10 mg of tar, and the other - 1 mg of tar, then by smoking “light” cigarettes, he will receive 10 times less tar and will be less harmful to his health. The levels indicated on the pack usually indicate the minimum level of intake of these substances into the body. The smoker still gets “his” dose of nicotine by inhaling deeper or smoking more cigarettes. That is, the harm from light cigarettes is no less than the harm from regular cigarettes.

Why are light cigarettes more harmful?

The use of sugar, honey, licorice, cocoa, chocolate and other flavorings makes cigarettes more attractive, especially to children and young people. So why are light cigarettes more harmful if they contain less tar? Cocoa also contains approximately 1% theobromine, which is a “bronchodilator” that helps dilate the airways and facilitates the passage of smoke and the absorption of nicotine. A more well-known additive is menthol, which has an anesthetic and distracting effect, making it possible to inhale deeper on such cigarettes. With deep puffs, the lower parts of the lungs are affected and the harm to the smoker’s health increases.

Many doctors believe that light cigarettes are even more harmful than regular cigarettes, since by smoking them people are deceiving themselves. It is because of “light” cigarettes that many smokers do not quit smoking, mistakenly thinking that they are thereby reducing the risk of dangerous diseases.

It is beneficial for tobacco companies to stimulate the transition to “light” cigarettes: they are more expensive, and smokers smoke more of them.

Is smoking a pipe harmful and the harm of passive smoking?

If you have been smoking for many years, it is very difficult to give up this habit. Perhaps one of the options that has crossed your mind is to switch to pipe smoking. Is smoking a pipe harmful, or is it a panacea for diseases associated with smoking? People who smoke pipes or cigars have a lower risk of developing heart disease and tumors than those who smoke cigarettes. This is largely due to the fact that when smoking a pipe or cigars, the smoker inhales almost no smoke. Therefore, smoking a pipe is harmful, since the risk of developing oral cancer is no less than that of other smokers. Remember that when you smoke a pipe, you still inhale tobacco smoke along with all its carcinogenic and toxic substances. This is called “passive smoking”, and the harm from passive smoking nothing less.

Cigarette smoke is divided into two streams: the main stream, which enters the smoker’s lungs when inhaling, and the side stream, from the light smoldering at the end of the cigarette.

The concentration of some harmful chemical compounds in the side stream is many times higher. It is especially sad that children often suffer. In families where parents constantly smoke, the child is 4 - 5 times more likely to get a cold; mental retardation and irritability.

Anti-smoking in Russia: anti-smoking laws

In Russia, on June 21, 2001, the State Duma adopted the Federal Law on Restricting Tobacco Smoking. This law aims to combat smoking "in order to reduce harmful effects tobacco smoke prohibits smoking tobacco in workplaces, in urban and suburban transport, on air transport with a flight duration of less than 3 hours, in indoor sports facilities, healthcare organizations, educational organizations, cultural organizations, premises occupied by organs state power, with the exception of smoking tobacco in designated smoking areas."

On May 21, 2003, the World Health Organization adopted the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The Convention defines the strategy for state regulation of the tobacco industry.

To combat smoking in Russia after its adoption in 1995 Federal Law“On Advertising” introduced serious restrictions on advertising of tobacco products in both media mass media, and for outdoor advertising.

In 2004, a law was passed prohibiting the sale of tobacco products “on the territory educational institutions", as well as within a radius of 100 meters from them.

On December 9, 2005, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the first reading a law on combating smoking, which provides for punishment for smoking outside specially designated places.

Another law on smoking in Russia, adopted on April 11, 2008 by the State Duma of the Russian Federation, is the law “On the accession of the Russian Federation to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.” According to the new law, Russia will introduce strict restrictions on all types of tobacco advertising, up to a complete ban within 5 years. The fight against smoking among minors will be intensified, and the inscription warning about the dangers of smoking on cigarette packs “will have to occupy at least 30 percent of the area of ​​the larger side of the pack.”

Our body has enormous recovery capabilities, and after some time after quitting smoking, you will feel as if you had never smoked.

The task of doctors, teachers, and the general public is to fight smoking not with prohibitions, but to convey to the minds and hearts of every person the belief that by giving up cigarettes, he can avoid many diseases and prolong life for many years.

The funny thing is that so far no one has been able to either 100% confirm that smoking is dangerous or refute this idea. Neither scientifically nor statistically.*

*- Note Phacochoerus "a Funtik:
« Well, why, why are you writing this? Well, who is pulling your hand? They would write that smoking is harmful, people die from it - who cares... It’s good for you, sit there under guard in your editorial office. I don’t care if there are crowds of angry anti-smoking activists in front of my enclosure at the zoo? They are wild people - and they can devour»

It is reliably known that heavy smokers The working volume of the lungs decreases, with exertion the pulse increases more strongly, and shortness of breath appears faster than in non-smokers. It is clear that smokers have an increased metabolism, so they gain weight less quickly and lose it faster. It is not yet possible to judge how life-threatening these changes are. Because as soon as the matter begins to concern nicotine addiction, both scientists and statisticians give up. Yes, up to 70% of those who die from lung cancer are smokers or have quit smoking. But if we take the main age-social-gender cross-section of such deceased people, it turns out that 70% of them consist of former or current smokers.

Yes, shortness of breath when climbing to the fifth floor is not good. But smokers solve IQ test problems 15% faster. And they are twice as likely to die from diabetes mellitus. Yes, pregnant women who smoke are more likely to have underweight babies. But smokers are 50% less likely to experience dangerous prenatal preeclampsia, and the number of cases of toxicosis is reduced by a third. Emphysema is twice as common in smokers, but Alzheimer's is three times less common, as is Parkinson's disease.

Here - official medicine hits the victory gong - that's it! It is absolutely clear that smokers are at greater risk of becoming victims of frostbite - their tissues are less resistant to cold. Proven, verified, safe! Let's fight bad habit! But then a report from the British medical academy about a sharp decrease in the number of ulcerative colitis in smokers compared to non-smokers - no, what kind of meanness is this... The summary data once again shows: statistics is a false, inaccurate and insane science. But it turns out much worse when these statistics are suddenly put in order. The appearance of a medical report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the health status of the continent's population in 1989-1990 ended in a wild scandal in 1993. Here you also need to take into account that in Australia, with its centralized system treatment centers and health insurance, any statistical studies look much more convincing and larger-scale than the data from European and American centers.

“How to live long? My recipe is this: 5-6 cigars a day. 3-4 servings of whiskey. And no physical education!”
Winston Churchill

So, according to this report, the health of Australian smokers was generally better than the health of non-smokers or quitters. Atherosclerotic diseases and oncology - the two main bugbears in the fight against smoking - have shown very modest results among those who, according to their indications, do not let smoking sticks out of their mouths, compared with their non-smoking fellow citizens. If we consider how much money the anti-nicotine lobbyists at that time managed to siphon from government pockets for their great struggle, then for such reports their compilers would be worth feeding to the sharks frolicking in the coastal waters of Sydney...

Compared to this bomb, one could not even pay attention to the traditionally disgusting results of Greece (the highest percentage of smokers in Europe and at the same time the most low level oncology and diseases of the circulatory system). What is this Greece - after all, they have sun, wine, mountain air, folk dancing.

Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine. When tobacco is burned, some of the nicotine enters the body along with the smoke through the lungs and mucous membranes. After which, along with the blood, nicotine is carried to all organs and begins to penetrate tissue cells. In fact, getting into our cage is not so easy - face control at the entrance will be more serious than in the most elite club, and guests outside the list have nothing special to catch there. But nicotine is lucky. Part of the cell's receptors, designed to provide unhindered access to the natural enzyme of our body - acetylcholine, perceives nicotine as one of the forms of this enzyme. And opens the doors wide. There are many effects that nicotine has on the body.

It increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels (and at the same time promotes their growth), enters close interaction with brain neurons, stimulates the production of the pleasure enzyme dopamine - there is practically no area left inside us where nicotine does not stick its nose. But at the same time, no too rapid changes occur in us. Unlike alcohol, for example, nicotine behaves quite modestly, very quickly integrates into the general metabolic process and is so to the liking of our body that it, having quickly recovered from the first vomiting and dizziness, begins to demand more and more portions of it. substances, considering it from now on to be a legitimate part of their own system.

Now heads are not being cut off yet, but, apparently, everything is going that way. Sixteen years ago the largest tobacco companies The US has already admitted its obligation to pay 46 states $206,000,000 to cover the cost of health insurance for smokers. Insurance companies have been dancing victory dances for a long time. Indeed, the majority were included in the “nicotine amnesty” existing diseases- it was enough for the patient to indicate that he was a smoker, and bills for his treatment were sent to the centers for the distribution of tobacco subsidies. Considering that tobacco products are already subject to enormous taxes, and the companies themselves regularly pay multimillion-dollar sums in claims of private “victims,” it would seem that one can be satisfied with such an indemnity. Not so.

In January 2014, the US Department of Justice and the five largest tobacco companies Philip Morris USA, Reynolds American, British American Tobacco, Liggett Group and Lorillard Tobacco have reached an agreement after 15 years of litigation. The Justice Department initially sought $280 billion from cigarette makers on charges that they engaged in a criminal conspiracy fifty years ago to hide from the public that smoking was addictive and that inhaled smoke was dangerous and claimed that “light” cigarettes were less harmful. As a result, the tobacco companies were found guilty of deceiving consumers, but they were forgiven a fine of a tidy sum, forcing them only to publicly admit what they had done. If the Ministry of Justice had insisted on payment, these industrial giants would simply have gone bankrupt.

Why is tobacco so feared?

Persecution of the potion

The mayor of New York is a pink helpless baby compared to the real anti-smoking people.

1515
The Inquisition of Spain declares war on “the demonic potion of the pagans, which emits smoke from the mouth and makes people look like devils.” The export of tobacco to Spain and Portugal is prohibited, and those who violate this ban are subject to flogging.

1525
In Portugal, smokers are excommunicated from the church.

1530
In England, the death penalty is introduced for smoking. The law, however, lasted less than a year.

1550-1690
In Russia, people who smoke damn weed have their nostrils ripped out. An exception is made only for foreigners, and then they are allowed to indulge in vice only in places designated for their residence.

1650-1750
In China, the penalty for using or possessing tobacco is death by beheading.

The money spent on the fight against smoking, which is snatched from tobacco companies and milked from state budgets, is the amount of big amount zeros. It is not surprising that such golden glitter attracts so many fiery fighters, angry speakers and passionate guardians for the happiness of mankind. People will always pay two types of citizens, it was the royal philosopher Marcus Aurelius who said: “Those who entertain them, and those who frighten them.”

Of course, the scale of entertainment show business is still larger, but the business of “scaremongers” is also quite flourishing.

Hundreds of foundations safely pocket tobacco millions, feeding doctors and journalists, politicians and public figures. Of course, you can still fight with abortion, with power plants, with genetically modified products, with bad ecology, with the crisis of overproduction, with the automobile industry... But in most of these cases, on the side of “vice” there are usually too powerful forces that are not yet quite successfully resist such attacks. Try the same genetically modified products again and half of all US farmers will rebel against you; no one is foolish to butt heads with such bulls. And the tobacco companies turned out to be quite fat and appetizing, but at the same time too weak. Atu them, atu!

The successes in the fight against the demonic potion are amazing - bastions fall after bastions. Smokers were hung with red flags on all sides, non-smokers were told that those with smoking things in their mouths were encroaching on your life and freedom. They smoke your children and they will grow up to be stupid freaks, they deprive men of their sexual power, they jinxed your cows and dance naked on Bald Mountain!.. In general, the old recipes still work well.

Convincing a modern non-smoker that a person with a cigarette at the other end of a restaurant does not cause him any harm at all is the same as trying to tell a pious man in Cologne five hundred years ago that witches do not actually ferment milk and do not spoil children in mother's womb.

Nicotine boils at a temperature of 140-145°C, dissolves in water, ether and alcohol, and is a very strong poison. A few centigrams of nicotine will kill a horse. This pure truth. But a dog already needs two or three drops, and if you take a goat or sheep, then these animals will calmly drink ten drops without even hesitating. Amoebas can generally exist perfectly well, frolicking in a one percent solution of nicotine, but for some reason the tuberculosis bacillus instantly throws off its hooves (or whatever else it has) even in the presence of an insignificant amount of this alkaloid in environment(that is why experienced doctors tuberculosis sanatoriums secretly suggest to their patients not to rush to quit smoking, but to get cured first).

“Quitting smoking is as easy as shelling pears, I’ve done it myself a hundred times”
Mark Twain

If non-smoker eats twenty cigarettes, he will either die or be forever damaged in his mind, but for schizophrenics, smoking helps block attacks of insanity - nicotine has a beneficial effect on the functioning of their neurons. The leech, which was used to suck the blood of a smoker, lives on average 20% longer than its “non-smoking” peers, but if the person with the leech was planted smokes at this time, the little animal will very quickly die in terrible convulsions.

Don't smoke on an empty stomach

Even if you belong to those creative individuals who, having opened their eyes in the morning, immediately begin to fumble around for smoking accessories on the nightstand with a weak hand, prepare the nightstand in the evening so that the first thing your hand comes across is some yogurt or fruit. Rape yourself - eat them. Now you can smoke with a sense of accomplishment.

3

eat apples

If you could compensate for every cigarette you smoked by eating half an apple that same day, then the harm from smoking in your case would be minimized - the substances contained in the apple would help your body restore the balance of microelements and reduce the risk of exposure to carcinogens. But, of course, you can’t cram so many apples into yourself. So just eat as much as you can.

4

Don't put a cigarette in your mouth

The smoke will be inhaled even if you simply press the filter to your almost closed lips. There will just be less of it. At first it will be unusual to smoke this way, but the good thing about being a smoker is that you get used to everything very quickly.

5

Breathe more fresh air and move

It’s better to smoke twenty cigarettes and take an hour-long run through the park than not to smoke a single one and sit in a stuffy room all day. If remorse makes you spend twenty minutes longer at the gym and sleep with the window open, then your smoking is not so harmful in general.

6

Don't bite yourself, don't torment yourself, don't scare yourself about cancer and emphysema

If you smoke, do it with pleasure and with a pure heart. Fears, nervousness and hypochondria themselves often become the causes serious illnesses, and not only nervous ones. Many experts are confident that always expecting the worst and being tormented by anxiety can provoke the development of cancer.

Probably, today every child knows perfectly well that smoking is bad and harmful. Thanks to a targeted and large-scale anti-tobacco campaign, there are fewer and fewer smokers in the world. But still there remains a huge number of people who revere and cherish their own deadly habit and do not want to part with it.

The fact is that smoking is an insidious enemy. Coming to a person under the guise of a friend who can support in difficult moments, give relaxation and calm, the cigarette firmly settles in the person’s mind and begins to rule the body. Much has been written about the dangers of smoking on the human body. Let's briefly recall the evil that a cigarette brings with it.

Smoking completely destroys the human body

While knowing full well about the harm? This antisocial habit has long become a global disaster. The cigarette has firmly tamed a huge number of people. But the worst thing is that this dependence is formed in two directions at once: physical and psychological. We can say that a person actually becomes captive of tobacco smoke.

Interest in smoking begins in childhood

It has been proven that the presence of psychological dependence directly affects the impossibility of quickly parting with addiction. It’s not for nothing that they say that a person is a slave to his habits.

Considering the physiological aspect of smoking, we will understand that with complete oblivion of cigarettes, extremely beneficial changes occur in the body:

• vasodilation;
• improvement of brain activity;
• stabilization of the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
• restoration of the respiratory system.

It is in the physical plane that after quitting smoking a person experiences beneficial changes. What can not be said about the psychological mood. Moreover, additional difficulties are added by the fact that the individual adjusts himself to the fact that parting with a cigarette will be very painful. After all, what will then help fight depression, stress and anxiety?

These are echoes of that same psychological dependence. And it appears immediately after the decision to quit smoking. But the most dangerous thing is that smoking is a habit acquired purposefully. The human body is absolutely not designed to be exposed to additional artificial doping.

Remember, smokers, your first attempts to take a drag. Cough, disgust and desire to throw away the cigarette. But the person stubbornly studies the basics of smoking and arms himself with a pack of cigarettes. Why and why? Maybe it’s just that not everyone knows how this will turn out?

The harm of smoking on the human body briefly

People who start their day with a cigarette and continue to actively smoke throughout the day do not even realize what a huge amount of carcinogens they are “launching” into their own body. Doctors have established and proven that by smoking about 15-20 cigarettes a smoker “replenishes” the reserves of his physical potential by:

• 40-45 mg of ammonia;
• 120-130 mg nicotine;
• 0.5-0.6 l of carbon monoxide;
• 0.5-2 mg of hydrocyanic acid.

Add here huge list from more than 400 names of carcinogenic substances, and you will be able to independently assess the harm of tobacco on the human body. Considering that carcinogenic compounds have a powerful ability to be deposited in the depths of human body. Where they constantly and purposefully destroy the functioning of internal organs, mercilessly ruining health.

Composition of tobacco smoke

It is a known fact that the life of active smokers with a long history of smoking is reduced by 6-12 years compared to non-smokers.

Thanks to numerous and long-term studies, doctors have found that smoking:

1. It has a detrimental effect on the immune system.
2. Consistently reduces overall health.
3. Increases the risk of developing cancer.
4. Seriously disrupts the functioning of the reproductive system. This applies to both men and women.
5. Significantly constricts blood vessels, which leads to the development oxygen starvation and problems of the cardiovascular system.

Cigarettes and the nervous system

Poisonous carcinogens that every tobacco product, have a destructive effect on the human central nervous system. To tasks nervous system includes control over all processes occurring in the body. The central nervous system reacts to tobacco intoxication as follows:

1. Decreased attention level, absent-mindedness and forgetfulness.
2. Dizziness caused by a sharp narrowing of the lumen of blood vessels.
3. Feeling of loss of consciousness. The person seems to fall into short-term prostration.

Heavy smokers with a long history of smoking cigarettes in most cases experience persistent memory impairment, depressive symptoms, and severe migraines. Neurotic signs also develop; smokers are often persecuted chronic fatigue. Carcinogenic smoke has an extremely negative effect on a person’s ability to sense tastes and smells..

How do cigarettes affect the nervous system?

Doctors have proven that long-term smoking significantly reduces a person's ability to perceive colors. Smokers have impaired color perception. The same applies to the work of olfactory receptors.

Smoke lovers also complain of hearing and vision problems. Toxic compounds are harmful to visual and auditory nerves. If there are existing problems (diseases) in the central nervous system, the smoker may eventually experience disability.

Smoking and the respiratory system

The main and destructive blow of tobacco smoke is the bronchopulmonary organs. Heavy, sticky particles of soot and soot in large quantities settle in the bronchi, disrupting the normal breathing process. Bronchial alveoli are gradually destroyed, subsequently provoking inflammatory processes.

Effect of cigarettes on respiratory system

Remember the famous smoker's cough, which begins in the morning and continues all day. This cough syndrome is accompanied by expectoration of viscous grayish sputum. This is coughing up particles of soot that interfere normal breathing. The voice of the smoker also changes, it becomes rough and hoarse.

During a year of smoking, about 1-1.5 kg of tobacco tar passes through a person’s lungs, and over time the lungs darken. This is clearly visible during the autopsy of a deceased smoker. Such photos are often used in visual anti-smoking posters.

Constant painful cough gradually stretches the alveoli, which impairs their tone and elasticity. All smokers, without exception, experience various disruptions in the functioning of the respiratory system. Doctors regret to note the fact that the number of tuberculosis cases is growing among people who smoke. Smoking – main reason various oncological processes occurring in the pulmonary system.

Carcinogenic tobacco smoke contains large quantities of amines. These compounds, when interacting with salivary fluid, form toxic toxins - nitrosamines. Once in the stomach, nitrosamines can trigger the growth of malignant cells. Not to mention that tobacco also contains a number of radioactive elements, which only add to the risk of cancer.

Tobacco and the heart system

Smoking significantly increases heartbeat, causing the myocardium to work harder. This significantly increases the load on the heart. Nicotine compounds, along with the bloodstream, end up in the adrenal glands, provoking the latter to actively produce hormones that contribute to increased blood pressure.

How do cigarettes affect the cardiovascular system?

The heart requires more and more effort to pump blood, given that the lumens of blood vessels are significantly narrowed due to smoking. Carboxyhemoglobin, which is part of carbon monoxide, also worsens the blood supply to the myocardium. It is inhaled in large quantities by smokers while smoking a cigarette.

A fan of tobacco smoke inhales a lot of catecholamines, which, penetrating into the blood, become the causes of increased deposition of fatty plaques. This situation becomes the direct culprit of atherosclerotic deposits and the development of atherosclerosis. The sad result is obesity of the heart and its various pathologies.

Cigarettes and the digestive system

Carcinogenic smoke has an extremely negative impact on work digestive tract. The smoke starts harmful effects still in the process of the first puff. By irritating the teeth, mucous membranes of the mouth and tongue, tobacco smoke can lead to numerous infectious diseases, not to mention oncological processes.

How cigarettes affect digestion

A smoker's teeth gradually turn yellow and decay. A bad smell, who neighbors with a lover of nicotine products? Once in the stomach, carcinogens from tobacco smoke greatly increase the risk of developing ulcerative pathologies, gastritis and pancreatitis.

Nicotine also greatly aggravates intestinal motility. It is this fact that influences the fact that smokers often complain of lack of appetite and various problems with stool (diarrhea, constipation, flatulence).

Smoking and the reproductive system

How can tobacco smoke damage your life? reproductive functions person? Poisonous toxins and carcinogens have a direct and very powerful destructive effect on the germ cells of the human body. The harm of smoking on a man's body is the development erectile dysfunction, loss of libido. Women suffer from various menstrual cycle disorders.

Much has been said about the dangers of smoking during pregnancy. Carcinogens and a huge list of toxic substances from tobacco smoke lead to the formation of painful toxicosis, problems with normal pregnancy and the birth of babies with numerous congenital pathologies.

This is only a tiny part of the destruction that smoking brings with it. The health effects of nicotine are wide-ranging and complex. Almost everyone suffers, is destroyed and dies internal organs and systems. What can be concluded? The sooner a person forgets about his addiction, the greater his chances of living a full, healthy and long life.

To cigarettes. The reason for this is the fact that the body can produce this substance on its own and in small quantities. If a person starts taking it regularly, nicotine also regularly enters the body in excess. To avoid oversaturation, the production of this substance stops. When a person stops smoking, the nicotine previously taken is processed. Over time, the body requires small dose of this substance. Since he can no longer produce it on his own, a signal goes to the brain about a lack of nicotine, and the person has to go smoke.

Tobacco smoke and the substances it contains have a negative effect on the respiratory system. The mucous membrane of the bronchi, lungs and respiratory tract is subject to severe irritation, which causes coughing and becomes a predisposition to respiratory diseases. In the process of smoking, all tissues of the respiratory organs become coarsened, and the process of inhaling and exhaling air becomes more complicated. The main danger for a smoker is cancer: V cigarette smoke There are about fifty chemical compounds that promote the development of cancer cells.

Contained in tobacco smoke substances cause an increase in the acidity of gastric juice, which causes stomach ulcers. This process occurs especially intensely when a person simultaneously eats or drinks. Carbon monoxide It is also harmful; when it enters the bloodstream and then into the brain, it causes dizziness and death of brain cells. As a result, the person functions worse.

Negative effects of smoking on the body

Smoking negatively affects the cardiovascular system: nicotine promotes the release of nicotine, which affects the heart and affects the pressure in the arteries. As a result, the body experiences an increased need for oxygen. Smoking causes blood to thicken and form blood clots, which in turn puts strain on the heart. Smoking man very vulnerable to stroke and paralysis due to the amount of carbon dioxide, not oxygen. Damage is promoted by the formation of blood clots and increased blood density.

Smoking suffers reproductive system, especially . Smoking women risk reaching menopause several years faster than non-smokers. Smoking and taking oral contraceptives together are dangerous. At the same time, the risk of heart attacks and strokes increases significantly. Smoking by a woman during this period threatens fetal development and miscarriages.

Cadmium, contained in small quantities in tobacco smoke, has a negative effect on bones. Over time, smokers develop osteoporosis, which is associated with a lack of calcium in the body. Cadmium causes calcium deficiency, which causes human bones to become brittle. Osteoporosis develops especially often in women, since smoking inhibits the functioning of estrogen, which is responsible for normal processes in the bones. The result of this is frequent bone pain.