Although we all know that cigarettes can cause serious damage to our health, more than 38 millions of Americans smoke. Smoking is not only dangerous for your lungs, but also does damage to your whole body.
Here are the risks of smoking cigarettes on a daily basis:
- Smoking lowers your immune system. This means that you’ll be more susceptible to getting colds and coughs. Smoking can also cause severe and fatal diseases such as pneumonia, emphysema and lung cancer. More than 84% of people that dies from lung cancer were smokers!
- Smoking destroys lung tissue and narrows airways. People that suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD experience shortness of breath and usually have a persistent cough with phlegm.
- Smoking causes throat and mouth cancer.
Smoking on a daily basis leads to inflammation build up in the lungs, which restricts the air passages and makes it harder to breathe. Smoking destroys the air sacs in the lungs, that help with oxygen exchange. Once these sacs are destroyed, they don’t grow back.
Smokers tend to get more coughs and colds because smoking kills the tiny hairs in your airways called cilia. These hairs are important since they clean out the mucus so that your lungs stay clean and healthy. Once these hairs are killed by smoking, you’ll be at higher risk of getting an infection.
Now that you know what smoking does to your body, it’s time to show you in real life. One nurse from North Carolina uploaded videos on Facebook to show what a “non-smokers” and “smokers” lungs look like after 20 years of smoking.
We all know smoking is bad, but most people still smoke due to stress, pressure or simply out of habit. Don’t forget that each time you smoke, you inhale more than 5000 chemicals in your lungs. Most of them are harmful. If you smoke due to stress, try something positive such as yoga, meditation or exercise. These things will not only help you relax, but also keep your body healthy and in good shape.