Smoking and your body: a total onslaught
We all know that smoking increases the risk of lung cancer and heart attack. But impotence? Tooth loss? Abnormal fat deposits? Blindness? Smoking is a full-body onslaught. |
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What's in that cigarette?
Smoking is associated with after-action satisfaction and as a passport to an exciting life. Real life however reveals a few bare facts about how unromantic cigarettes are. |
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Tobacco giant comes clean
For the first time in South Africa, tobacco giant Philip Morris has stated publicly in a national campaign that smoking is addictive and life-threatening.
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Add wrinkles to dangers of smoking
If their increased risk of cancer, heart disease and other ills isn't enough, smokers may be persuaded by simple vanity to kick the habit. |
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Do smoking and drinking affect erectile dysfunction?
Both smoking and drinking effect erectile dysfunction. |
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How smoking affects your heart
In South Africa, seven million people smoke, 80% have tried to quit at least once and 90% of people started smoking before the age of 18. Here's how it affects your heart health. |
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Smoking and acne
Tobacco, while deteriorating the appearance of the skin over a period of time, in itself does not seem to cause acne. |
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Smoking and cancer
Research has shown that twenty-five thousand people die from smoking-related diseases in South Africa every year,” according to Welile Shasha, head of the World Health Organisation in South Africa. How does smoking affect your health? |
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Smoking and heart disease
Smoking is one of the major risk factors for heart disease and stroke and a leading cause of premature death. |
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Smoking causes Colon Cancer, study shows
People who smoke cigarettes for 20 years or more are about 40 percent more likely to die of colon c |
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Smoking harmful to entire body
Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body and causes far more diseases than once believed, the top US health official said Thursday. |
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Smoking harms your breasts
Smoking is not usually associated with breast cancer, but women who have smoked heavily for years may have a greater risk of developing the disease. |
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Smoking hastens pancreatic cancer
Smoking doesn't just raise the risk of pancreatic cancer, it radically accelerates the onset of the highly virulent tumours in patients who have a rare inherited disorder |
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Smoking may boost diabetes risk
Smokers already worried about their risks for cancer and heart disease now have another reason to quit: Tobacco may raise the risk for type 2 diabetes, say two new studies.
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Smoking may lead to skin cancer, too
The more you smoke, the higher your risk of one type of skin cancer, report scientists from the Netherlands. |
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Smoking moms cause low sperm counts
Smoking during pregnancy could reduce the fertility of baby boys when they grow up. Sons of women who smoked also have smaller testes. |
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Smoking moms double colic risk
If you smoke and you're expecting a baby, expect to spend a lot more sleepless nights in the nursery. |
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Smoking? Even more reasons to quit
Smoking is responsible for thirty percent of all cancers and is the largest preventable risk factor. During Cancer Prevention Awareness Week, the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) has organised a No Tobacco Radiothon to encourage smokers to kick the habit.
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Smoking greatest lifestyle factor
Cigarette smoking is probably the most potent single lifestyle factor contributing to risk of coronary artery disease in the populations of Western and developing nations. |
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What about smoking and GORD?
Smoking is generally bad for your health and can irritate your stomach, but it has not been proved that it specifically worsens the symptoms of GORD. |
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Abnormal fat distribution
Although smokers tend to be thinner than non-smokers, the effect of smoking on the endocrine system (glands which secrete hormones) often results in the abnormal distribution of body fat |
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Cardiovascular disease
Because smoking restricts blood flow, it is a major cause of coronary heart disease and stroke. |
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Degeneration of mental function
The lingering perception of smoking as an aid to inspiration and creativity is a myth, fostered primarily by images in popular culture of famous artists – writers especially – working in a cloud of smoke. Neurological experts stress that although nicotine stimulates the central nervous system, providing a temporary rush, it is unlikely to improve the way the mind functions. |
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Gum disease and dental problems
Smoking increases the risk for gum (periodontal) disease, a condition that destroys the supporting tissue of the teeth. This in turn can cause tooth loss; smokers are twice as likely to lose teeth as non-smokers. |
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Pregnancy
When a pregnant woman smokes, so does her baby. Carbon monoxide and nicotine (among other poisonous substances) are carried through the bloodstream from mother to the baby, leading to lower levels of oxygen intake, a higher pulse rate, and other ill effects. Nicotine exposure in utero may inflict lasting brain damage. |
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Smoking affects your skin
Smoking accelerates the natural ageing processes, which is most apparent in the facial skin.
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Vision loss
Smoking increases your chances of becoming blind due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by up to four times. |
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Need more reason to quit?
Every year, smoking kills more people globally than Aids and tuberculosis combined. We take a look at the risks of this destructive habit. |
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Other lung conditions
In addition to lung cancer, smoking can cause or worsen other lung conditions, particularly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema
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Why smokers suffer after operations
Many smokers who undergo serious operations take longer than other people do to recover. |
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Why smoking makes you look old
Just can’t quit? Would it help if you knew smoking puts you on a rollercoaster to premature ageing? |
