Smoking

• Smoking causes a drying effect and heat irritate lungs – destroys cilia
• Nicotine is addictive, it is also a stimulant, it increases pulse rate and narrows blood vessels which can cause damage
• Tobacco smoking can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer and coronary heart disease
• Tar causes cancer, and is an irritant so causes coughing.
• There are other irritants in tobacco smoke including: smoke particles, ammonia, and sulphur dioxide
• Emphysema: walls between alveoli break making large sacs, reducing surface area massively and making you breathless after a couple of steps
• Loss of limbs due to poor circulation, CHD and lower sperm-count
• Carbon monoxide irreversibly bonds with haemoglobin which can lead to oxygen starvation
• Cancer of the stomach, pancreas and bladder etc.
• Liver is the site of breakdown of alcohol and other toxins