Harmful Effects of Cigarettes

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Many people have seen the warning labels on cigarette packages. "Cigarette Smoking May be Hazardous to Your Health." This has to rank as one of the most profound understatements in human history. Cigarettes are a health disaster that could never be summarized by a little warning label on a box. You might be surprised at the multitude of ways in which smoking affects your body and at the number of diseases it could cause. Smoking is especially bad for your respiratory system. When you smoke a cigarette you inhale the smoke into your lungs. This means that your lungs are directly exposed to the 4,000 toxic substances in which cigarette smoke contains. These substances can impair your lungs ability to function and interfere with the mechanisms that protect them from disease. Smoking can cause Respiratory Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and Lung Cancer. Smoking can also cause decreased endurance, as well as respiratory infections. Thousands of people die on a yearly basis due to damaged lungs caused by cigarette smoke. The warning labels on cigarette packages don't mention anything about your bones, but they should. Cigarette smoking can cause serious problems with the skeletal system. Smoking weakens bones, and this can cause you to develop a disease called Osteoporosis as you grow older. That isn't all smoking can do; it can also cause problems with bones right now, especially if a bone is broken or need bone surgery is needed, it will take quite some time to heal. Bones can be harmed directly by toxic substances from tobacco smoke. These substances travel from the lungs, through the bloodstream, to all parts of the body. Substances in tobacco smoke that can damage your bones include nicotine, carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, two poisonous gases that rob your body of pure and precious oxygen. The bones in your body are

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