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Other Effects of Smoking

Overall health in smokers is poorer than in nonsmokers.

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Full Report in Adobe Acrobat Format (PDF Logo PDF-240K)

Smoking damages your health in many other ways. Smokers are less healthy overall than nonsmokers. Smoking harms your immune system and increases your risk of infections. The toxic ingredients in cigarette smoke travel throughout your body. For example, nicotine reaches your brain within 10 seconds after you inhale smoke. It has been found in every organ of the body, as well as in breast milk. If you smoke, your cells will not get the amount of oxygen needed to work properly. This is because carbon monoxide keeps red blood cells from carrying a full load of oxygen. Carcinogens, or cancer-causing poisons, in tobacco smoke bind to cells in your airways and throughout your body.

Smoking harms your whole body. It increases your risk of fractures, dental diseases, sexual problems, eye diseases, and peptic ulcers. If you smoke, your illnesses last longer and you are more likely to be absent from work. In a study of U.S. military personnel, those who smoked were hospitalized 28 percent to 55 percent longer than nonsmokers. And the more cigarettes they smoked, the longer their hospitalization. Smokers also use more medical services than nonsmokers.

Among people younger than 65 enrolled in a health maintenance organization, or HMO, health care costs for smokers were 25 percent higher than for nonsmokers.

Smoking also increase your risk of... Please view the text below.

Smoking also increases your risk of:

  • Being hospitalized (by up to 55%)
  • Sexual and reproductive problems
  • peptic ulcers
  • hip fractures
  • complications after surgery
  • respiratory infections
  • cateracts
  • gum disease and tooth loss (half of all cases)

Facts You Should Know
 

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This page last reviewed May 27, 2004

United States Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health