40 Things You Didn’t Know About Smoking

1. Smoking kills half of all smokers worldwide
2. Smokers are at increased risk of back pain
3. Smoking accelerates aging
4. One person every five minutes dies because of smoking in the UK
5. Smokers suffer from skin problems. Most smokers have paler, dryer skin, with more wrinkles due to a reduced blood supply that allows the skin to lose its elasticity
6. Smoking depletes the body of vitamin C by 30%
7. Smoking damages the gut
8. Nicotine increases cholesterol in the blood
9. Smoking damages your teeth and gums and causes mouth ulcers
10. Smoking doubles the risk of dementia
11. Smoking causes cataracts to form in the eyes
12. There are 6000 chemicals in tobacco including cyanide, butane, ammonia and carbon monoxide
13. Smoking makes you six times more likely to suffer a stroke
14. Smoking during pregnancy kills 5000 foetuses a year, increases the risk of intellectual impairment, produces small, underweight babies that are more prone to allergies and brain damage.  It also trebles the risk of cot death after birth.
15. Smoking causes early menopause in women
16. Every system in the body is affected by smoking, including the heart and vascular system
17. Smoking weakens the immune system
18. Smoking increases the risk of diabetes
19. Smoking reduces exercise tolerance
20. Smoking increases the risk of pneumonia
21. 87% of smokers deaths are due to lung cancer
22. Smoking doubles infertility in women
23. Smoking weakens bones by de-mineralising them
24. Smoking also hits your pocket. If you smoke twenty cigarettes a day of the cheapest brand you will spend at least £1500 every year
25. Nicotine is more addictive than heroin and alcohol and is delivered to the nervous system within seven seconds for a quick fix
26. Smoking increases the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders developing
27. Smoking depletes antioxidants within the body
28. Smoking raises blood pressure - a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes
29. Giving up smoking reduces the risk of heart disease and strokes within 2- 4 years
30. Smoking damages sperm and increases erectile dysfunction by 50% in men aged 30 – 40 years
31. Smoking increases age related hearing loss
32. Smoking causes bad breath and gum disease, which can lead to teeth falling out
33. 15% of childhood cancers have been attributed to the mother smoking during pregnancy
34. Smoking causes Coronary Heart Disease
35. Overall risk of mortality returns to normal after 10-15 years of non smoking
36. Smoking can cause fatigue and headaches
37. Smoking causes 80% of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cases. An umbrella term for a number of conditions were breathlessness gradually increases leading to death
38. Smoking decreases your sense of smell and taste
39. Smoking reduces life expectancy by 7-8 years
40. Smoking kills around 114,000 people in the UK each year

All this research is backed up by legitimate evidence that can be found in this book:

Porter S (2003) Tidy’s Physiotherapy, Butterworth and Heinemann 13th edition London