Diseases From Smoking

 Alert.”
How deadly is a cigarette? Before you light up, readIn addition to this, smoking causes other cancers as
the list below. They're the diseases that come fromwell. These include cancers of the mouth, larynx, the
smoking.kidney, bladder, and cervix. The latter is apparently
Whether or not you contract these ailments dependscaused by carcinogens which concentrate in the
on several factors: the number of cigarettes youcervix and later trigger the development of cancer.
smoke, the tar and nicotine content of the cigarettes,"Cancer of the cervix is strongly associated with
and the depth of inhalation.cigarette smoking, especially if the habit was taken up
But one thing's for sure. Smoking is bad for your healthin the early teens or sooner. The cause is apparently
no matter how you look at it. If you're a smoker, it'sthe smoke carcinogens carried to the uterine epithelium
best to quit now before it's too late.by the circulation. Many young and middle-aged
Lung cancer - Many deaths from lung cancer arewomen die or are rendered sterile by surgery,”
caused by smoking. This is not surprising since tobaccoaccording to Kurt Butler of the Quackery Action
smoke is loaded with carcinogens that damage theCouncil of Hawaii and Dr. Lynn Rayner of the John A.
lungs of smokers.Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii in
Still, aggressive advertising and marketing efforts of“The Best Medicine.”
the tobacco industry have increased the number of“The total of tobacco-related deaths due to
smokers, especially women, in recent years. This hascervical and lung cancers in women exceeds he total
greatly contributed to a fivefold jump in the rate of lungof tobacco-related deaths due to lung cancer in men,"
cancer among women.they added.
"Lung cancer is the most preventable cancer killer ofEmphysema - is another lung disease that comes
women. By the mid-1980s, 30 years after an explosionfrom smoking. In this condition, the tiny air passages
in the number of women smokers in this country, lung(alveoli) of the lungs lose their normal elasticity and are
cancer was killing more American women than breastinjured or destroyed. The tar in cigarettes is
cancer. In 1987 the disease killed 44,000 Americanresponsible for this. This gives the smoker shortness
women. Almost two-thirds of all female lung cancerof breath, a persistent cough, and a rounded or "barrel"
deaths occur among women who current­ly smokechest.
one pack or more daily, or who have quit within the"The alveoli eventually disintegrate into nonfunctioning
last five years. Nine out of 10 lung cancer deaths occurscar tissue worthless for breathing. The damage is
in women with some history of regular cigarette use,"irreversible. Smoking is by far the most important single
revealed Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe and the Public Citizencause of emphysema," Butler and Rayner said. (Next:
Health Research Group in “Women's HealthSmoking and impotence.