Part 1: Getting Ready for Liftoff

Heart Disease

Smoking is the greatest risk factor for heart disease. A smoker’s chance of having a heart attack is 3 times that of a non-smoker. High blood pressure is a major cause of stroke and a prime risk factor for heart disease. High blood pressure is more severe in smokers. People with high blood pressure can lower their risk of heart disease by 50% when they quit.

1. Carbon monoxide reduces oxygen going to the heart.

2. The heart works harder to move  the oxygen through the body. Breathing speeds up.

3. Nicotine causes the blood vessels to constrict. Blood pressure goes up. The heart becomes more stressed.

4. A greater amount of cholesterol forms on the blood vessel walls.

5. Over time, less oxygen puts strain on the heart and heart cells die.

Cancer

Cigarette smoke has been proven to contain cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) and co-agents (co-carcinogens). The parts of the body that come into direct contact with smoke are more likely to develop cancer: lungs, mouth, trachea, esophagus, and larynx. The breakdown products in smoke also affect other organs that do not come into direct contact with smoke:  the pancreas, kidney, and bladder.

Chronic Bronchitis

Chronic bronchitis can make it very hard to breathe. This is because the lining of your bronchial tubes (the tubes that air goes through to get to your lungs) becomes inflamed and irritated. While acute (temporary) bronchitis caused by a cold or virus usually goes away within a few weeks, excess mucus and lung damage can mean months and months of coughing and breathlessness.

1. Cigarette smoke paralyzes hair like fibers (cilia) that line and clean the bronchial tubes.

2. Excess mucus is produced in the tubes. The result is a mucus plug.

3. Chronic coughing is the way a smoker removes the plug so oxygen can get in.

Emphysema

Emphysema can also make it very difficult to breathe. This problem develops in a different way than chronic bronchitis:

1. Oxygen enters the blood stream through air sacs in the lungs. The ‘tars’ from cigarette smoke gather on the lung walls and burst the sacs.

2. These heavy tars also make the lungs longer and less able to stretch.

3. Breathing becomes difficult.