In the first place, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. The polls indicate that the overwhelming majority of smokers fall ill with lung cancer. Accordingly, approximately 87% of lung cancer deaths are begot by tobacco using and no more than 12-15% of patients are being cured with today's treatments. The other kinds of cancer that attack smokers are cancers of oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and esophagus. In addition to this, smoking is also a contributing tutor in the development of cancers of the bladder, pancreas, liver, uterine cervix, kidney, stomach, colon and rectum.
Apart from the various kinds of cancer, cigarette smoking also results in many other disorders. First of all, it is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease. It causes a narrowing of blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles and that can, as a consequence, activate the damage or even the loss of one of the limbs. What is more, tobacco
also induces heart disease, bronchitis and stroke. It contributes to the severity of pneumonia and accounts for 85-90 percent of emphysema mortality. In the past, this disease affected exclusively men. Nowadays, however, one in four emphysema deaths occurs also among women. Besides this, smoking has a damaging effect on women's reproductive health and is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, early delivery, stillbirth, infant death, and is a cause of low birth weight in infants.
Furthermore, it has been proved that the smoke from cigarettes affects also those around the smoker. Some of the products of tobacco combustion are able to disrupt the normal activity of the central nervous system. As a result, the children of chain smoking parents are more likely
to suffer from ADHD. They have poorer speech, reading, visual/spatial and math abilities than the children of non-smoking parents. Apart from this, they also have reduced auditory processing (e.g. they find it more difficult to follow the directions of the teacher). Moreover, children exposed to passive cigarette smoke have a higher incidence of misbehavior. They tend to be more anxious and aggressive, but less willing to coordinate with other pupils and easier to come into conflict with them.
As nicotine and other toxins in cigarettes do affect a person’s body very quickly, there are also numerous right away noticeable problems experienced by smokers. To begin with, cigarette smoking restricts blood vessels, prevents oxygen and nutrients from getting to the skin and accordingly makes it look rather pale and unhealthy. As time goes on, such a skin takes up a peculiar yellowish colour and is more susceptible for wrinkles to develop on. The other thing is that cigarette smoking leaves its users with a persistent bad breath and the smell of stale smoke lingering not only on their clothing, but also on their hair, furniture, cars and etc. This smell is very annoying and extremely difficult to get rid of .
In conclusion, I think that before turning to the first cigarette, people should take into
account all the damaging effects it may have on them. They have to be aware of the higher risk of falling ill with cancer or other diseases such as peripheral vascular disease, bronchitis, pneumonia and many others, hazardous to their health. What is more, they ought to consider that when smoking they are not only doing damage to themselves, but also to other people being in their company, especially to their children. Apart from that, they also have to take into account that for some effects of tobacco usage, such as bad skin, breath, smelly clothes and their other personal things, they will not have to wait long. They should ask themselves a question whether having a moment of pleasure is worth all that.