Stop Smoking Academy

Everyone agrees that smoking is unhealthy for millions of reasons. Decreased life expectancy is just one of them. Each cigarette that you smoke changes the way in which your body functions. This includes the cardiovascular system, lungs, and all other important parts of your body that are meant to keep you healthy. The result of smoking may become fatal thanks to the chemicals you are pouring into your system. By taking the decision to quit smoking, you can raise your life expectancy by being free from the diseases that the toxins from cigarettes cause.

Cancer is one of the most talked about smoking-related illness. It is proven that smoking is responsible for 30% of cancer deaths in the United States. These cancers affect the lungs, larynx, oral cavity, esophagus, kidney, pancreatic, cervical and bladder cancers. Smoking causes so much cancer because of the chemicals that are absorbed while smoking. There are more than sixty different kinds of substances in cigarettes that are directly related to cancer causing problems. Carbon monoxide, tar, arsenic, and lead are just a few of these poisons.

Yet another major problem caused by smoking which then becomes fatal is heart disease. Some of the smoke related heart diseases are high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure. These occur because the poisonous substances from cigarettes flow through your body and eventually break off normal functioning parts of your system. For example, plaques will begin to form in your arteries because of the chemicals taking over your system. These same toxins move in your blood stream and narrow the blood vessels. These blood vessels are the ones responsible for supplying blood and oxygen to your heart. If they become narrow, the supply is cut off completely, and this can be fatal. These different kinds of heart diseases are the most common causes of death in the United States, and are often linked with smoking.

Lung disease is also a common problems that can lower your life expectancy and is attributed to smoking quite often. Two of the major types of lung diseases caused by smoking are emphysema and bronchitis. Emphysema is brought on by the air sacs in the lungs being damaged. The function of these air sacs is to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. The chemicals found in cigarettes move into the lungs, and damage the walls of the alveoli. This then makes the sacs to become larger and less effective in exchanging the right type of air that the lungs need. They are known to get weaker, collapse, and trap the air that you need. They then no more allow the lungs to inflate properly. The first symptoms of this lung disease is breathlessness. However, if you continue smoking, it will break down the air sacs, finally leaving you unable to breathe. Bronchitis has similar causes in which the structure of the lungs is changed so as to impair the air flow.

Your life expectancy slowly begins to expand after you quit smoking. This is related to how long you have smoked, how much you have smoked and when you started smoking. It also depends on whether you were sick when you decided to quit smoking. The earlier that you decide to quit smoking, the more chances you have to prolong your life expectancy. Slowly, the chemicals that have moved through your body will be eliminated from your system. This will then allow the body to function normally. It also allows the chemicals that once prevented growth of tissue and nerves to start growing back. Your immune system, as a result, will be able to work more efficiently, and help you to fight off diseases.

When you finally quit smoking, your lungs will start moving air through them easily, and eventually bring the air sacs back to the normal size. This will also cause the blood vessels to stop narrowing further, and sometimes even expand back to normal. It is known that less than twenty-four hours after you decide to quit smoking, your cardiovascular system reaches a normal pace, instead of the quicker pace it was forced to move because of the extra chemicals in your system.

By getting rid of the chemicals in your body by not smoking, you are gifting yourself a longer and healthier life. Smoking has proven to be fatal for many different reasons. The only way you can increase your life expectancy is by quitting smoking.