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Smoking is bad for your health. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body. Smoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. Smoking not only harms your health but it hurts the health of those around you. Exposure to secondhand smoke (also called environmental tobacco smoke or passive smoking) includes exhaled smoke as well as smoke from burning cigarettes. Cigarette smoking causes 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. It is also responsible for many other cancers and health problems. These include lung disease, heart and blood vessel disease, stroke and cataracts. Women who smoke have a greater chance of certain pregnancy problems or having a baby die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational drug use. Tobacco smoking is today by far the most popular form of smoking. Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Over time, a person becomes physically and emotionally addicted to, or dependent on, nicotine. You will know you can succeed at difficult taks and take more control of your life. Quitting helps you believe in yourself. Quitting smoking has major and immediate health benefits for men and women of all ages. Benefits apply to people with and without smoking-related disease. The excess risk of developing heart disease as a result of smoking may be reduced by as much as half in the year or two after quitting. Women who stop smoking before pregnancy or during the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy reduce their risk of having a low birth-weight baby to that of women who never smoked. The health benefits of quitting smoking are far greater than any risks from the small weight gain or any emotional or psychological problems that may follow quitting. Women who quit at age 35 increase their life expectancy by 6 to 8 years. It is never too late to gain benefits from quitting. When you quit smoking 3 - 9 months Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung functions are increased by up to 10%. Quitting at age 45 increases life expectancy by 6 or 7 years. Quitting at age 55 increases life expectancy by 3 to 6 years. Quitting at age 65 increases life expectancy by 1.4 to 4 years.
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