Three million people die from cigarette smoking each year and, unless habits change, that number will more than triple in the next two decades, warned the report, entitled Mortality from Smoking in Developed Countries (1950-2000).
According to Professor Richard Doll of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) and an author of the report, "Smoking is the biggest epidemic of fatal disease with which the countries of the developed world are faced."
The health warnings are everywhere, but despite all the write-ups and reports regarding the hazards of cigarette smoking, countless people still love to take that deadly smoke. Despite all the scientific studies linking it to dozens of life-threatening diseases, the number of smokers is still alarmingly high. Despite the many health and social tips published to help cigarette addicts refrain from smoking, they still can't get it out of their system. Despite the fact that cigarettes contained hundreds of toxic chemicals from fertilizer component ammonia, to embalming agent formaldehyde, to the insecticide methoprene, many are still "dying" to puff the stick.
Well, enough said. Maybe it's not getting to their heads. Maybe they haven't read them all. Maybe we need to repeat the possible scenarios again and again. So I thought of collecting all the possible reasons why people should quit smoking. Here are 13 of the most elaborate ones:
1. Facial Wrinkles
Smoking causes vasoconstriction of facial capillaries, which reduces the flow of oxygen and nutrients to skin cells. So if you keep on puffing, you might as well say hello to premature wrinkling in your face. Worse, it's irreversible, even if you can afford the cash and bear the pain of plastic surgery.
2. Stained Teeth
Particles from cigarette smoke such as tar stain teeth brown and yellow. You may spend more on toothpaste, brushing your teeth six times a day or having synthetic enamels but it will do you less.
3. Bad Breath
Chemicals left in the mouth and throat by frequent cigarette smoking cause odor-producing bacteria that became trapped in your mouth. Gum disease and tooth loss as well as sore throat, bronchitis, laryngitis, pharyngitis (and a lot more) are also common in smokers.
4. Bad Odor
Cigarette smoke has an unpleasant odor that stick on everything from skin and hair to clothing and curtains.
5. Brittle Bones
The risk of osteoporosis, a crippling condition, is well-known these days. Nicotine interferes with calcium absorption, and the lack of calcium makes bones brittle. Those who smoke have lower bone mass. Studies revealed that one out of eight people who had a hip fracture suffered bone loss due to smoking. Once lost, bone density cannot be fully recovered.
6. Lung Cancer
Deaths resulting from lung cancer are among the highest, and it is an establishes fact that cigarette smoking is the number-one cause of lung cancer. Cigarette is really for those who want to commit suicide by suffocation.
7. Heart Diseases
Hemoglobin cells are designed to carry oxygen throughout the body. In smokers, oxygen molecules are displaced by the components of cigarette smoke, blocking the transfer of life-giving oxygen. This could lead to nervous disorder, coronary heart disease and stroke.
8. Impotence And Sterility
Smoking reduces peripheral vascular flow. In other words, the blood flow necessary to attain an erection may become blocked. Research has proven that as many as one in two smoking men older-than-40 have experienced impotence to some degree. In women, many studies linked smoking to sterility and frigidness.
9. Depression
Some people say smoking relieve stress, this is actually the opposite, more so because some chemicals present in cigarettes tend to depress the smoker. Recent scientific studies have already established the connection between smoking and depression. It does not relieve stress, it only postpone it to a greater degree.
10. Danger To Infants
Recent scientific studies revealed that smokes coming directly or indirectly from cigarettes are dangerous to infants. One study indicates children of women exposed to secondhand smoke two to three hours a day while pregnant have an increased risk of subtle problems with speech, language, intelligence and attention span. In another study, it was discovered that infants in households where people smoke are more than twice as likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) as those in smoke-free environments.
11. Bad Example To Emulate
Every day about 3,000 children in the United States alone became addicted to cigarette smoking. If they keep smoking, a third of them eventually will die from conditions connected to their addiction. Anti-tobacco organizations claim cigarette companies deliberately target children, teens and young adults in their advertising companies. If you smoke, you're a walking billboard for these companies. They are killing you, and you are paying them for it.
12. Cause Of Fire
Fires resulting from lighted tobacco products are the leading cause of fire deaths. Every year more than 100,000 fires caused by tobacco products killed thousands of people and incurred millions in property damage worldwide.
13. Among The Stupid Ones
Knowing all these consequences, aside from knowing the fact that each cigarette contains 50 carcinogens, 30 insecticides and at least three thousand chemical poisons, smokers must really have a lack of oxygen going to their brains, for them to continue their bad habit. If this is so, they have already reached the peak of stupidity.
