You may not be worried about the health effects of smoking and probably think you'll have stopped smoking before you feel the negative effects. However, one out of every two regular smokers dies from a smoking-related disease. Smoking doesn't just cause lung cancer and heart disease. There are many other illnesses that can be caused by smoking too:

• Head – Loss of hearing, glue ear, eye irritation, cataracts, blindness, reduced sense of smell
• Brain – reduced supply of oxygen to the brain which can result in increased risk of stroke, headaches, mood changes and panic attacks
• Mouth and throat – gum disease and tooth loss, reduced sense of taste, plaque and gum disease, sore throat, cancer of the lips, tongue, larynx and oesophagus
• Heart – narrowed arteries, aortic aneurysm, heart attack, thickened blood, increased pulse rate.
• Lungs – bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, coughs and colds, wheezing, shortness of breath, asthma, tar deposits, damaged cilia, cancer
• Stomach – stomach ulcers and cancers of the stomach, kidneys, pancreas and bladder
• Reproduction system and fertility – impotence, reduced sperm count and mobility, deformed sperm, testicular cancer, reduced fertility, miscarriage, low birthweight baby, cancer of the cervix, cot death
• Circulation – narrowed and hardened arteries leading to atherosclerosis and gangrene, cold hands and feet, cold skin, decreased fitness, weakened bones, osteoporosis, peripheral vascular disease

Other effects of smoking

Even if lung cancer does seem a long way off, smoking affects other parts of your life too:

• Head – dull, foul smelling hair and hair loss
• Mouth and throat – tobacco-stained teeth, foul-smelling breath
• Skin – premature ageing and wrinkling, reduced oxygen supply to the skin resulting in grey-looking skin, cellulite from excess toxins in the body, tobacco stained fingers
• Money – smoking 20 a day cost more than £30 a week
• Time – it can take up to 10 minutes to smoke a cigarette – over three hours a day for a 20 a day smoker

British Heart Foundation
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