SMOKING IS VALEOLOGICALLY DANGEROUS TO HEALTH (11): Effects from head to toe!!!

[Abbas Bubakar El-ta'alu]

EFFECTS OF CIGARETTE SMOKING FROM THE TIP OF ONE'S HAIR IN THE HEAD TO THE TOE!!!   

          Individuals who suffer from addiction often have one or more accompanying medical issues. Cigarette smoking damages the Human body – gradually and insidiously – in a number of different ways.
Hair: Smell and staining.
Brain and Mental Effects: Addiction/withdrawal: Altered brain chemistry. Anxiety about harm caused by cigarette smoking.
Eyes and Vision: Ocular Histoplasmosis (fungal eye infection, as a result of which eyes sting and water). Diabetic retinopathy. Optic Neuritis. Cataracts (clouding of the lens) are another visual Problem associated with cigarette smoking. Tobacco Amblyopia (loss of vision). Nystagmus (abnormal eye movements).
Nose: Chronic rhinitis (chronic inflammation of the nose). There is less sense of smell.
The skin: Cigarette smoking causes premature facial wrinkling (premature ageing). Peripheral vascular disease. Through vasoconstriction of the capillaries of the face (vasoconstriction decreases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to facial skin cells). The effect of this reduced blood flow is visible in deep crow's feet radiating from the corners of the eyes and pale, grayish, wrinkled skin on the cheeks. These effects may emerge after as few as five years of smoking and are largely irreversible, except through costly and traumatic facial surgery. Psoriasis
Teeth: Discolouration and stains. Plaque. Loss of teeth. Acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (gum disease).
Mouth and Throat: Quitting smoking halves the risk for cancers of the oral cavity and oesophagus during the first five years after cessation, but ex-smokers always have an increased risk as compared to the risk in those who have never smoked. Cigarette-smoke irritants can also permanently damage the tissues of the larynx. The result of this is a noticeable deepening and hoarseness in the voices of chronic smokers. Quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing laryngeal cancer. Vocal- cord polyps (non-cancerous growths) are also strongly related to tobacco exposure and such polyps rarely disappear without surgery.
Respiratory System: After stimulation, there is a phase that depresses the muscles in the airways Smoking directly irritates and damages the respiratory tract. Each year, a one-pack-a-day smoker smears the equivalent of a cup of tar over his or her respiratory tract. This irritation and damage cause a variety of symptoms, including bad breath, cough, expectoration (sputum production and its spitting out), wheezing, and
respiratory infections such as bronchitis*. These symptoms are experienced differently by individuals; can be reduced, but not entirely reversed, by quitting.
          Smoking is the principal risk factor for developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), i.e. chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Emphysema- The importance of cigarette smoking as a risk factor for developing emphysema can not be overemphasized. This disorder is characterized by permanent structural changes in the lung tissue (Fig. 4-3). It literally means excess air in the lungs. It is a chronic infection caused by inhaling smoke or other substances that irritate the bronchi or bronchioles. The principal reason for the chronic infection is that the irritant seriously deranges the normal protective mechanisms of the airways, including the partial paralysis of the cilia of the respiratory epithelium by the effects of nicotine; as a result, mucous can not be removed easily out of the passageways. The resulting mucous buildup can provide bacteria with a rich source of food and lead to infection.
         The immune cells in the lung, whose function is to prevent and fight infection, are also affected by cigarette smoke. They can not fight bacteria as effectively or clear the lungs of the many substances (such as tar) that cigarette smoke contains. The inflammation caused by the immune system constantly attacking bacteria or tar leads to the release of destructive enzymes from the immune cells.
         Over time, enzymes released during this persistent inflammation lead to the loss of proteins (elastins) responsible for keeping the lungs elastic. In addition, the tissue separating the air cells (alveoli) from one another also is destroyed. Over years of chronic exposure to cigarette smoke, the decreased elasticity and destruction of alveoli leads to the slow destruction of lung function.
               
         

Figure:Emphysema (see my photo gallery in the forum)

           
Chronic Bronchitis: This is a long-term inflammation (swelling and reddening) of the bronchi (Fig. 4-4), which results in increased production of mucus as well as other changes. The most

       

Figure: Chronic Bronchitis (see my photo gallery in the forum)

        The deterioration in lung function associated with COPD is directly related to duration of smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked ("pack-years").
        Smoking during childhood not only increases the risk of developing COPD in adulthood but also lowers the age of its onset. Cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence increases the number and severity of respiratory illnesses. It also causes retardation in the rate of lung development and in the level of maximum lung function – and retardation in lung growth during childhood means that the lungs may never attain normal function and development.
         Everyone (smoker or non-smoker) experiences a slow decline in lung function starting at about age 30 [Robert & Kerre Brose (Retrieved in 2006)]. This gradual decline in smokers starts both from a lower baseline and at an earlier age. Smokers suffer from decreased lung reserve: They are unable to run (or even walk) as far or as fast as their peers who have never smoked. Smokers thus, can expect permanently impaired lung function relative to their non-smoking peers. With sustained abstinence from smoking, the rate of decline in pulmonary function among among smokers returns to normal, but lung reserve remains decreased relative to those who have never smoked.
         Cigarette smoking is, in fact, the major cause of lung cancers of all major histologic types. During the past half century, lung cancer rates have dramatically increased in women, to the extent that lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in women, exceeding both breast cancer and colon cancer [Robert & Kerre Brose (Retrieved in 2006)]. This increased female mortality parallels the increase in cigarette smoking among women. One study [American Lung Association. (May, 1998)] noted that 75 per cent of ex-smokers showed changes in their DNA indicative of precancerous lesions, as compared to only 3 per cent of people who have never smoked. Data presented in this meeting showed that former smokers continued to develop lung cancer at rates 11 to 33 times higher than non-smokers. The data also showed that the shorter the time since quitting, the higher was the ex-smoker's risk. Increased risk was, however, still noted in former smokers after more than 20 years of abstinence.
Heart and Circulation: Premature Coronary Disease (CHD) is one of the most important medical consequences of smoking. Smoking acts both independently of and synergistically with other major risk factors for heart disease. Sadly, sudden death may be the first sign of CHD – and sudden death is four times more likely to occur in young male cigarette smokers than in non-smokers. Women who use both cigarettes and oral contraceptives increase their risk of developing CHD tenfold.
          In a recent study of atherosclerosis [Robert & Kerre Brose (Retrieved in 2006)], the progression of fatty deposits in the carotid artery was found to be dependent on total pack-years of tobacco exposure, rather than on the patient's current smoking status. This finding indicates that atherosclerosis progression may also be cumulative and irreversible, at least after some degree of baseline exposure.
         Heart attack or myocardial infarction is a situation (among smokers) when an area of the heart muscle (myocardium) dies or is permanently damaged because of an inadequate supply of oxygen to that area.
         Cerebrovascular accident (CVA), or stroke, causes brain damage that usually leaves its victims with permanent disabilities. Smokers' excess risk for stroke appears to return to that of non-smokers within 5 to 15 years of cessation (see chapter seven). It was suggested [Robert & Kerre Brose (Retrieved in 2006)], however, that an ex-smoker's risk remains high for at least 20 years after cessation. In addition, it was recently learned [Robert & Kerre Brose (Retrieved in 2006)] that the incidence of "silent strokes" (events that are harbingers of both severe strokes and dementia) is increased in anyone who has ever smoked.
         Smoking is a strong risk factor for several types of blood-vessel disease. It causes poor circulation to the legs by narrowing the blood vessels that supply these extremities.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

[JM0918]

Smoking cause the vital dangerous to health. And this irritation and damage cause a variety of symptoms, including bad breath, cough, expectoration (sputum production and its spitting out), wheezing, and
respiratory infections such as bronchitis..



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