When a person smokes a cigarette, the chemicals in the cigarette enters the lungs and starts travelling through the body causing serious damage.
Smoking cigarettes can harm almost every organ of the body like this:
Eyes and ears
Smoking can cause eye problems and even blindness and is also linked to hearing loss if a person has smoked a lot of cigarettes over a long period of time.
Heart
Smoking cigarettes can narrow blood vessels and force the heart to work harder. It can raise blood pressure increasing the likelihood of heart attacks/strokes.
Lungs
Smoking cigarettes can put pressure on the lungs as the chemicals from the cigarette stick to the lining of the lungs. This weakens the lungs and increases risks of diseases such as lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema.
Mouth and Teeth
Smoking cigarettes can make a person's teeth turn yellow and give them bad breath. Smoking cigarettes can also cause gum disease and mouth cancer.
Muscles and joints
Smoking cigarettes keeps oxygen from getting to muscles, making the body feel weak. It can also increase the risk of a serious and painful disease called rheumatoid arthritis.
Skin and hair
Smoking cigarettes may affect a person's appearance because smoking reduces the blood supply to the skin and cause a person to get wrinkles and lose hair at a younger age. A person who smokes also tends to have paler skin and experience premature ageing.
The mind
A person who smokes cigarettes can become addicted to the drug, nicotine, that is in the cigarettes. This drug can make a person feel good when they are smoking but it can make them anxious or nervous, moody or depressed afterwards.
Smoking increases the risk of cancer in the bladder, kidneys, pancreas, stomach and reproductive organs as well as the lungs, lips, mouth or throat which may lead to the removal of parts of the body or premature death.
Check out the CCEA GCSE Learning for Life and Work Second Edition Textbook to find out more or check out: My Revision Notes: CCEA GCSE Learning for Life and Work: Second Edition
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