How tobacco damages your body:
The chemicals in tobacco smoke can damage your body in many ways.
- Nicotine narrows your veins and arteries.
- This can damage your heart by forcing it to work faster and harder slow your blood and reduce oxygen to your feet and hands.
- Carbon monoxide deprives your heart of the oxygen it needs to pump blood around your body. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
- Tar is a sticky substance that coats your lungs like soot in a chimney.
- Phenols paralyse and kill the hair-like cells in your airways. These cells sweep clean the lining of your airways and protect them against infections.
- Tiny particles in tobacco smoke irritate your throat and lungs and cause ‘smoker’s cough’. This makes you produce more mucus and damages lung tissue.
- Ammonia and formaldehyde irritate your eyes, nose and throat.
- Cancer-causing chemicals make your cells grow too fast or abnormally. This can result in cancer
What happens in your body
When you smoke harmful chemicals enter your lungs and spread through your body. They can:
- reach your brain, heart and other organs within 10 seconds of your first puff
- go everywhere your blood flows, harming every part of your body.
Physical health Damages of smoking
- Cancer
- Breathing problems and chronic respiratory conditions
- Heart disease, stroke and blood circulation problems
- Diabetes
- Infections
- Dental problems
- Hearing loss
- Vision loss
- Fertility problems
- Osteoporosis and menopause
Mental health damage of smoking:
Smoking has been associated with a range of mental disorders including :
- schizophrenia
- anxiety disorders
- depression.
- Stress
- Hypertension
If you are willing to stop smoking but find it difficult to quit and maintain your decision, our team of professional therapists can help boost your willpowers and support you start a healthy lifestyle.