Heart

Most people associate cigarette smoking with breathing problems and lung cancer. But smoking is also a major
cause of heart disease for men and women. Almost 20% of all deaths from heart disease in the U.S. are directly
related to cigarette smoking. That's because smoking is a major cause of coronary artery disease. A person's
risk of heart disease and heart attack greatly increases with the number of cigarettes he or she smokes. People
who smoke have a two to four times higher chance of having heart disease. And smokers continue to increase
their risk of heart attack the longer they smoke. Women who smoke and also take birth control pills increase
several times their risk of heart attack, stroke, and
Lungs
Smoking is the biggest cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) an umbrella term for a range
of conditions including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
It causes damage to the airways and lungs which leads to the development of this long-term condition.
Smoking can also make symptoms worse for people with asthma and other lung conditions. Stopping
smoking is essential to prevent the development of COPD or slow down its progression. Find out more about
how you can give up smoking here.
Child and baby
You know that smoking isnt good for you, but if youre pregnant, smoking can have damaging effects on your
unborn child, too both now and long after your baby is born. In one study, published in the European Heart
Journal, researchers found that children born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy have lower levels of
good HDL cholesterol, which in turn may increase their risk of having a stroke or heart attack later in life. The
two by-products of smoking that have been proven to affect developing foetuses are carbon monoxide
and nicotine. One study found that nicotine in breast milk can disrupt a baby's ability to sleep and reduce nap
times by as much as one-third. Birth defects. Research has found that smoking during early pregnancy
increases the risk of birth defects. In particular, babies of smokers seem to have congenital heart defects more
often that those of non-smokers, and the risk of heart defects seems to rise with the number of cigarettes the
expectant mother smokes. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Smoking during pregnancy is one of the top
risk factors for SIDS. The babies of smokers are up to three times more likely to die from SIDS as the babies of
non-smokers. Childhood cancer. Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy have an increased risk of
all forms of cancer, including leukaemia and lymphoma, studies have found.
Addiction
Addiction to nicotine results in withdrawal symptoms when a person tries to stop smoking. Studies have found
that, when chronic smokers were deprived of cigarettes for 24 hours, they had increased anger, hostility,
aggression, and loss of social cooperation. Those suffering from withdrawal also take longer to regain
emotional equilibrium following stress. During periods of abstinence and/or craving, smokers have shown
impairment across a wide range of psychomotor and cognitive functions, such as language comprehension.