The Real Health Effects of Smoking

Its a strange occurrence that in the last few years, some smokers rights groups have risen up to claim that there are really not that many damaging health effects of smoking. Many say that lung cancer is just a disease of old age, as are all the other cancers that are associated with smoking.

So what then really is hype and what is truth when it comes to this habit, and specifically, what has been shown to be the real health effects of smoking?

In short, with every new study and every new research paper that comes out, there is just more and more bad news when it comes to the health effects of smoking. As scientists, biologist, and doctors learn more about the human body and are able to trace smokings effects more clearly, they learn more about its damage.

While lung cancer is still the prime concern for many when it comes to the health effects of smoking, in truth, many cancers have been traced to this habit, including bladder cancer, throat cancer, cancer of the larynx, liver cancer, cancer of the tongue and other areas of the mouth, cancer of the large intestine, and even blood cancer or leukemia.

Additionally, smoking works to dry up the arteries around the heart, causing this muscle to work all that much harder to do its job. One of the clear health effects of smoking is recurrent heart attacks, heart disease, and other ailments of the vascular system. Many cases of heart disease and heart attacks happen in non-smokers that can be traced back to secondhand smoke or passive smoking, or of living in a very smoky atmosphere.

And of course cancer is not the only disease of the lung that is a resultant health effect of smoking. Bronchitis, asthma, chronic sore throat, chronic cough with sputum, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and virtually any other disease that one can contract in the respiratory system is somehow linked to smoking.

Believe it or not, infertility is also linked to smoking, for both men and women. A mans sperm count can be affected by his smoking, as can his sperm motility. A womans ovulation is also affected by smoking. In either case, conception can be that much more difficult if one or both smoke.

So the bottom line is that there are numerous health effects of smoking, and none of them are good. Its not hype; its fact that smoking does absolutely nothing but ruin your health and the health of those around you.