Smoking has got many. Some people find it calming, some energizing and some even say that a few puffs help them focus on their work better. The act has now become a social activity and is a part of many people’s daily routine just like their morning tea.
But why are so many people addicted to smoking despite knowing that every cigarette is harming them?
The answer could be in the effect nicotine has on the brain. Science says that it releases certain chemicals that make a person feel good and gradually the brain makes a person crave more and more.
If you are nodding in agreement and are one of the many who have these cravings, we urge you to read what every puff does to your body and how it inadvertently destroys your lungs.
A little bit of trivia before we begin. Smoking involves inhaling smoke from burning plant material and it puts you at a risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease, lung issues, and multiple other health ailments.
This is how.
The Effect of Smoking- Explained in Steps
1. This may come as a little surprise. It’s not a pleasant one though. The effects of smoking begin from the moment you light up a cigarette and millions of chemicals from the burning tobacco begin their destructive work even before you take that first puff.
When you light that cigarette and hold it in your mouth, the heat from the burning cigarette releases nicotine and as a residue produces a substance called tar. This tar stains your lips, fingers, and nails, making them look ugly. The dark lips and scars between your fingers that give away that you are a regular smoker can be blamed on the tar.
2. Every time you light up that cigarette, the smoke makes your skin dry and leads to inflammation that causes wrinkles. Additionally, the smoke when it passes through your nostrils, damages your nerve endings. This can reduce your sense of smell in the long run.
3. There is a filter in your mouth that prevents you from breathing in large particles that may choke you. However, it doesn’t filter the tar, nicotine, and various other chemicals. The tar once through, stains your teeth and forms a kind of coating on your gums and tongue making you vulnerable to tooth decay, gum diseases, and your sense of taste.
4. As the smoke from the cigarette passes through your airways, it coats the throat as well as the vocal cords and moves toward the lungs making you cough sometimes. The tar and a poisonous gas called hydrogen cyanide which is released while smoking, can affect the hair-like structures called cilia that line the lungs. The chemicals can paralyse the cilia and stop them from doing their job which is to trap germs and sweep them away from the lungs. If the smoking continues the cilia get damaged and give you many respiratory issues.
5. When smoke reaches your lungs, it goes to the little air sacs called the alveoli and damages them, too. This causes Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD), which can make breathing very difficult due to severe inflammation in the lungs and can be fatal if not treated.
6. From the alveoli the smoke travels to your blood. Here it pushes out oxygen from the red blood cells and makes your cells and tissues starve. This lack of oxygen can make you breathless due to inflammation and the formation of mucous as the starved cells and tissues send out a warning bell to the body about the depleted oxygen. When the smoke enters your bloodstream it also damages the lining of the blood vessels by making it thicker. This makes the blood vessels narrow and squeezes the blood cells, making them stick to each other. The sticking of blood cells makes them form a clot that can cause a heart attack or a stroke. For men, this hampered blood circulation can lead to erectile dysfunction.
7. Once the harmful chemicals have entered your blood, it is easy for them to circulate throughout the rest of your body. This leads to a reduction in the absorption of calcium which can damage your bones, the lack of oxygen can severely affect your eyes causing cataracts and loss of vision and the chemicals cause continuous inflammation which can weaken your immune system. This opens your body to multiple infections and makes you sick and develop auto-immune diseases.
Further nicotine can lead to severe hormonal changes that can disturb your fertility levels, damage your DNA, and unfortunately block all the tools the body needs to repair it. This can give you cancer and infertility.
8. From the blood the nicotine then reaches the brain. Once in the brain, it initiates the brain to release dopamine, adrenaline, endorphins, and all the other feel-good hormones. This is why you feel that kick within seconds when you smoke while it severely affects your other parts of the body.
9. The liver in your body processes the nicotine and flushes it out as you pee. This happens within a few hours of smoking a cigarette and then the body begins to miss that kick and feel-good sensation, sending you urges to go and smoke again. If you don’t, you experience withdrawal symptoms like depression, anxiety, restlessness, sleeplessness, and even anger, making you reach out for the poisonous puff again. There is more bad news. The body gradually develops tolerance to nicotine which makes you crave more and more and finally makes you completely dependent.
10. During pregnancy, the constricted blood vessels in the placenta and umbilical cord due to smoking, disrupt the flow of blood to the fetus. Instead, the blood carries more carbon monoxide, nicotine, and many other harmful chemicals that stop the fetus from getting sufficient oxygen and affect its DNA. Hence people who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have a miscarriage or their babies are born with low birth weight, developmental problems, and may also have lung and heart disorders.
Can Your Lungs Be Repaired After You Quit Smoking?
Here’s some relieving news. The answer to the above question is yes. If you quit the bad habit, the inflammation and mucous production can come down within a few weeks after quitting and the cilia can begin to regenerate. Even the other body systems that were affected can begin to heal. However, this depends on how long you smoked and what is the extent of damage to your body.
Bouncing back may be a difficult process but think about it. What may be more difficult is letting your precious body, life, and the life of your loved ones be seriously disrupted to the point of no return. All because of a few puffs of temporary pleasure.
