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Human lungs are paired organs inside the chest cavity which perform respiration. Their job is vital because they supply oxygen to the body. It has been estimated that each day, we take around 23,000 breaths and with each of them, our lungs supply fresh oxygen to our bloodstream which is carried to the cells.

Of all human organs, lungs are most directly affected by the bad habit: cigarette smoke is inhaled into them with each puff. More importantly, only ten percent of the toxic substances, contained within the cigarette smoke are exhaled, while the other ninety percent are deposited inside the lungs.

Would you believe if you hear that smoking has an artistic side: with every cigarette they lit, smokers add deadly brownish tones to the white canvas of their lungs. No?! Well, let’s see the bigger picture – imagine that each cigarette is a palette of carcinogens and other harmful substances, including tar. Seventy percent of the tar is deposited inside the smoker’s lungs, covering them with huge brown and black areas. These tars damage the cells in the airways of the smoker’s lungs. Eventually, the damages may lead to lung cancer or cancer of the larynx. To prevent this, the organism sends defense sells to tackle carcinogens, but these defenders are easily destroyed by the army of harmful substances in cigarette smoke. The dead defense cells then release substances which damage the lungs’ structure and cause a condition known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD.

Even worse, not only do smokers damage their own lungs by practicing the habit, but they also harm the lungs of the people around them. This phenomenon is known as passive smoking. Passive smokers also inhale the smoke from the burning tips of cigarettes, which contains even more of the harmful cocktail of chemicals than the smoke that has passed through the cigarette filter. People with asthma or other respiratory problems are most troubled by the passive smoking. Due to passive smoking, children whose parents smoke are more likely to develop lung problems.

If people quit smoking, this will save not only their lungs, but also the lungs of his or her loved ones and, last but not least, they will help the environment. It is clear that smokers, as a whole, have their share in the global air pollution.

When you smoke, you harm not only your own health, but also that of the people you live with, who are forced to inhale the smoke of your cigarettes. Such inhalation is called passive or secondhand smoking and may have serious consequences for your loved ones. Here are some of the diseases passive smoking may cause or speed up:

Cancer

This is the most serious disease that secondhand smoking can lead to. Studies have shown that the relative risk of lung cancer increases significantly if a person lives on a day-to-day basis with a heavy smoker.
Passive smoking may also be contributive to breast cancer. Thus, the California Environmental Protection Agency found out in 2005 that the exposure to passive smoke of younger women increased the risk of breast cancer by 70%. This statistic should be a warning to you if you have a teenage daughter in your family.

Asthma

Involuntary smoking may also lead to various lung diseases, most notably, to asthma. A study on more than 700 people, conducted in 2001 by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, discovered that individuals whose partners smoke are exposed to almost five times higher risk of developing asthma in their adulthood than the ones who are smoke-free and also that “those who are exposed to second hand smoke at work are more than twice as likely to develop respiratory problems”.  But even without such scientific verdict, one can easily see the damage smoking does to the respiratory system: just listen to an inveterate smoker breathe or cough, and you will immediately realize that smoking poses real dangers.

Cognitive Impairment

A quite recent research, published in the British Medical Journal in February 2009, has reached the definite conclusion that long-term exposure to secondhand smoke may increase the risk of cognitive disorders and dementia in people, aged 50 or more.

Various Children’s Diseases

The people we love the most, our children, are the greatest victims of passive smoking. Among the many diseases careless parents may inflict on their boys and girls are: brain tumor, lung infections, tuberculosis, tooth decay, bronchiolitis, developmental delays, and even, when it comes to infants, sudden death.
Having said all this, we hope that you will want to reconsider your obstinacy to continue smoking.