SMOKING IS VALEOLOGICALLY DANGEROUS TO HEALTH (12): Effects from head to toe!!!

[Abbas Bubakar El-ta'alu]

CONTINUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF CIGARETTE SMOKING FROM THE TIP OF ONE'S HAIR OF THE HEAD TO HIS TOE

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
         
Liver: Cancer.

Abdomen: Stomach and duodenal ulcers, cancer of the stomach, pancreas and colon. Aortic aneurysm, i.e. abnormal ballooning of the abdominal portion of the aorta, which is the major artery from the heart.

Genito-Urinary Tract: Smoking causes kidney and bladder cancer. It is, in fact, the strongest risk factor known for developing bladder cancer [Robert & Kerre Brose (Retrieved in 2006).

Musculo-skeletal System: Smoking is associated with osteoporosis (tinning of bone tissue and loss of bone density over time) and with spinal disk disease in both sexes. Lost bone calcium cannot be fully recovered, and degenerative bony changes are irreversible. Osteoporosis predisposes to fractures and is responsible for much disability, especially in elderly women. A recent meta-analysis [Robert & Kerre Brose
(Retrieved in 2006)] of 29 studies involving almost 4,000 hip fractures concluded that one of every eight fractures was attributable to smoking, although the rate was lower for ex-smokers than for current smokers. Muscle injuries and neck pain are increased risk for smokers. Peripheral vascular disease; Buerger's Disease (severe circulatory disease).

Male Reproduction: Studies [Ochedalski, et al. (1994), Attia, et al. (1989); English. (2001)] have shown that, changes in endocrine profile due to cigarette smoking can reduce fertility - ejaculation volume reduced, lower proportion of motile sperm. Sperm is less able to penetrate the ovum; its shape abnormalities increased. Incidence of impotency is approximately 85 per cent higher in male smokers compared to non-smokers [U.K. Health Secretary. (Retrieved in 2006)], and it is a key cause of erectile dysfunction [Jack, E. H. (1985)]. Smoking causes impotency because it promotes arterial narrowing.

Female Reproduction: Fertility (30 per cent lower) and delay in conception. Period pains. Menopause (onset 1.74 years early on average). Cancer of the cervix.

Blood: Leukemia (a group of bone marrow diseases that involve an uncontrolled increase in white blood cells). Diabetes (Type 2, non-insulin dependent). Nicotine elevates the blood level of glucose (blood sugar) and increases insulin production. Nicotine also tends to enhance platelet aggregation, which may lead to blood clots.

Immune System: Immune system is impaired. Cigarette smoking is an additional environmental factor that could, in the proper setting, promote or contribute to the appearance of physical damages precipitated by the smoke upon the organism tissue, with a resultant production of autoantibodies and subsequently a full blown autoimmune reaction [Robert, Tracee, Edward, Jacob, Scott, Mathew & Wilmer. (2005); Shoenfeld & Isenberg. (1989)].
Polyclonal T cell activation has been suggested to play an important role in the occurrence of autoimmune disease [Schwartz. (1993)]. The T. cell mitogenic properties of cigarette smoke [Francus, Klein, Staiano-coico, et al. (1988)] could thus serve to enhance the production of IL-2 with the resultant propensity towards an autoimmune state. At least three autoimmune conditions were already reported [George, Levy & Shoenfeld. (1997)] to be affected by smoking.
          The results of another study [Moszczynski. (1993)] suggest the role of cigarette smoking as a co-factor in the immunological changes brought out by occupational exposure to organic solvents. This phenomenon is reflected in the changes of IgA, IgD, IgG, IgM and lysozyme in the serum, and number of circulating T cells, as discussed above.