Why is smoking tobacco bad for my health?
People smoke tobacco in cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. Tobacco smoke has many harmful chemicals that cause problems in your whole body, not just your lungs.
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Smoking is addictive because tobacco has a drug in it called nicotine
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Smoking causes cancer
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Smoking increases the chance that you'll have a heart attack or get a lung disease (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] or lung cancer)
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It's hard to quit smoking, but medicines and getting help learning how to change your habits can help
Breathing in smoke from someone else who is smoking, called second-hand smoke, can cause the same health problems as smoking yourself.
Smoking while pregnant can hurt the unborn baby and cause:
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The baby to be born too early
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A low birth weight
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Problems with the baby's lungs, including asthma
What about e-cigarettes?
What if a child swallows nicotine?
What are the effects of smoking?
Immediate effects
Long-term effects
Smoking hurts nearly every organ in your body. The main smoking-related problems are:
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Heart attack and chest pain
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COPD, which is a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe
Smoking also makes it more likely you will have:
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A stroke
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Cancer, in addition to lung cancer
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Lung infections and asthma
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Osteoporosis (a disease that makes your bones weak and break easily)
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Sores in your stomach
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Cataracts (when the lens of your eye slowly gets cloudy, causing your sight to get worse over time)
Smoking also causes:
Withdrawal symptoms
Should I talk to my doctor about my smoking?
Yes, you should talk to your doctor about smoking and how much you smoke.
Your doctor can:
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Explain why smoking can harm your body
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Help you quit smoking
Drugs Mentioned In This Article
| Generic Name | Select Brand Names |
|---|---|
nicotine |
COMMIT, NICORETTE, NICOTROL |
