Smoking doesn’t just take a toll on your lungs; it affects your entire body. Along with aging your skin, suppressing your immunity, and decreasing your fertility, smoking wreaks havoc on every single one of your body’s systems. Discover the effects of smoking on the body and take action to quit today. Show
Respiratory SystemIt is well known that smoking is bad for your lungs, but did you know that smoking is responsible for about 90% of lung cancer and COPD deaths? Smoking kills over 480,000 people every year in the United States. Over 7,000 lung cancer deaths per year are caused by secondhand smoke exposure. Along with lung cancer, smoking increases your risk for chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Cardiovascular SystemSmoking decreases your blood’s ability to carry oxygen to your body’s tissues. It narrows your blood vessels and increases your blood pressure. Its damage to your circulatory system makes your heart have to work harder and creates an ideal environment for blood clots. Smokers are two to four times more likely than nonsmokers to have heart disease and suffer a stroke. About 34,000 nonsmokers die of heart disease every year due to secondhand smoke exposure. Digestive SystemSmoking increases your risk for many digestive health conditions. It weakens the muscular valve that prevents stomach acid from flowing back into your esophagus, causing heartburn. Smoking also causes peptic ulcers, painful sores in your stomach. It increases your risk for liver disease, Crohn’s disease, gallstones, and many cancers, including pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, and stomach cancer. Nervous SystemMultiple studies have shown that smokers are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders compared to nonsmokers. Nicotine in cigarettes travels quickly to your brain and affects how it works, making you crave more of it, which is why it can be difficult to quit smoking. Smoking can also blur your vision and interfere with your ability to taste and smell. Skeletal and Muscular SystemsSmokers have been shown to have lower bone density compared to nonsmokers. A recent study found that those who smoke are more likely to develop osteoporosis. This increases the risk of fractures and may slow the bone’s healing process. Smoking also increases your muscles’ vulnerability to disease and injury. Back and vertebral injuries have particularly been linked to smoking. Within weeks of quitting, your blood pressure decreases and circulation improves. After one year, your risk of heart disease is cut in half. After five years, your risk for particular cancers is cut in half. Quit now and reap the benefits sooner. In the event of a medical emergency, call 911. Locate your nearest St. Luke's Health emergency room so you know where to go. Schedule an appointment with Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Group to get assistance on your journey to quit smoking and live a healthier lifestyle. Find out how much money you would save in a year if you quit smoking today using a Cost of Smoking Calculator. Sources: Smoking and Respiratory Diseases Active, Passive Smoking Tied to Infertility, Early Menopause: Study Smoking Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease Health Tip: Smoking Affects Your Heart Smoking and the Digestive System Another Stop-Smoking Benefit: Better Mental Health Health Tip: Smoking Can Affect Your Vision Quit Smoking for Better Bone Health Health Tip: Smoking Can Lead to Bone Injury Smoking Hurts Your Back Smoking is very harmful to your heart. It seriously increases your risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases. To keep your heart healthy, you can make small lifestyle changes to help you quit smoking. The chemicals in cigarettes make the walls of your
arteries sticky. This causes fatty material to stick to the walls. The fatty material can begin to clog your arteries and reduce the space for blood to flow properly. Smoking can also affect your heart and blood vessels by: You might
notice benefits sooner than you think: Quitting smoking also has other benefits like:
It’s never too late to benefit from stopping smoking. On average, men will add 10 years to their life if they quit by the age of 30. Many people will add 3 years to their life if they quit by the aged of 60. Being a non-smoker can also improve your chances of being more physically active and healthier as you get older.  What is in a cigarette?Cigarettes contain many toxic chemicals that harm your body even after you’ve finished your cigarette. Some of the harmful chemicals used in cigarettes are: Carbon monoxideCarbon monoxide is a poisonous gas. It prevents your blood from carrying oxygen around your body properly. This forces your heart to work harder than it should. It also stops your lungs working as well as they should. TarTar stains smokers’ teeth and fingers a yellow-brown colour. It is very harmful to your health, it can cause:
NicotineNicotine is the addictive chemical found in regular cigarettes, most e-cigarettes and shisha. It increases your heart rate and blood pressure. Untreated high blood pressure can cause:
Are smoking alternatives less harmful than cigarettes?All types of smoking and smoking alternatives are bad for your health. Some smoking alternatives are less harmful than cigarettes and they can help you quit smoking. But they should only be used to help you quit smoking for good. Other smoking alternatives are just as harmful or more harmful than cigarettes. E-cigarettesE-cigarettes, or vapes, are less harmful than regular cigarettes and they can be used to help you quit smoking. An e-cigarette is a device that you breath in vapour (steam) from rather than smoke. The vapour contains nicotine, the addictive chemical used in cigarettes. E-cigarettes don’t burn tobacco and they don’t produce tar or carbon monoxide. E-cigarettes can help you quit smoking by managing your cravings for nicotine. But because they use nicotine, e-cigarettes can be addictive. You should only use your e-cigarette when you really need it. E-cigarettes should not be used by non-smokers or young people. ShishaShisha is not safer than smoking cigarettes. A specially prepared tobacco is heated to produce smoke. The smoke bubbles through a bowl of water and into a long hose-like pipe to be breathed in. Like cigarettes, shisha tobacco can contain:
Even if you use tobacco-free shisha, the smoke still produces harmful levels of toxins. This can be either just as bad for you or even more harmful than smoke from tobacco-based shisha. In a shisha session (which usually lasts 20-80 minutes), a shisha smoker can inhale the same amount of smoke as a cigarette smoker consuming over 100 cigarettes. Find out more about shisha Smokeless tobaccoSmokeless tobacco is not safer than smoking cigarettes. It’s a type of tobacco that can either be chewed, sucked, or inhaled without producing smoke. Most smokeless tobaccos have the same amount of nicotine as cigarettes. They can also have more than 25 chemicals that are known to cause cancer. Using smokeless tobacco can also increase your risk of having:
You might see smokeless tobacco being called snuff, snus or spit tobacco. Low tar cigarettesSmoking ‘low tar’ cigarettes is not safer than smoking regular cigarettes. Some cigarette packages describe the product as ‘low tar’, but this is misleading. Most ‘low tar’ cigarettes have the same amount of harmful chemicals as regular cigarettes. ‘Low tar’ cigarettes are often found in countries where the process of making cigarettes is less regulated than in the UK. Around half of all long-term smokers die early from smoking-related conditions, like heart and circulatory diseases. Even if you’ve smoked for years, it’s never too late to stop. If you quit today, you might feel more energised to play with your children or grandchildren in a couple of weeks. Read our top 10 tips Is second-hand smoke harmful?Yes, second-hand smoke is harmful. Second-hand smoke (also known as passive smoke) is when you breathe in the smoke in the air from someone else’s cigarette and the smoke they breathe out. When the people around you breathe in your cigarette smoke, it increases their risk of developing:
Second-hand smoke is very dangerous for children. They are 3 times more likely to get lung cancer in later life than children who live with non-smokers. Children who live in a home with smokers can have double the risk of getting illnesses like:
You can help to protect your loved ones, friends and colleagues from the dangers of second-hand smoke by quitting. How can I quit smoking?If you quit smoking, you will greatly improve your health and the health of everyone around you. It may feel hard to resist the temptation to smoke sometimes. But you can make small changes to make it easier to stick to it:
You are not alone. Aside from your family and friends, you can get support from healthcare professionals, stop smoking programmes and nicotine replacement therapy. You can make an appointment with your GP, pharmacy or practice nurse. They will be able to help you find a way to stop smoking that works for you. Help and supportYou're more likely to quit if you have support:
Last updated: September 2021 Next update: September 2024 We've been awarded the PIF TICK for quality health information. Want to know more?Order or download our publications: What are the 5 negative effects of smoking in circulatory system?Effects of smoking on the circulatory system
raised blood pressure and heart rate. constriction (tightening) of blood vessels in the skin, resulting in a drop in skin temperature. less oxygen carried by the blood during exercise. 'stickier' blood, which is more prone to clotting.
How does smoking affect the respiratory system and circulatory system?Cardiovascular System
Smoking decreases your blood's ability to carry oxygen to your body's tissues. It narrows your blood vessels and increases your blood pressure. Its damage to your circulatory system makes your heart have to work harder and creates an ideal environment for blood clots.
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What are the effect of cigarette smoking in circulatory system?
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