How smoking can negatively affect your life Essay Example for Free

How smoking can negatively affect your life Essay My name is Kimberly Robinson. Today, I will be discussing how smoking can negatively affect your life in so many different ways. Like many people, you already know that smoking is bad for your health. But not many fully understand just how dangerous smoking really is. Every single cigarette you smoke does damage to your body. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2017), cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 480,000 deaths each year and the risk of dying from cigarette smoking has been increasing over the past 50 years. It causes nearly one in five deaths which are more than car accidents, illegal drugs, Aids, murders, and suicides combined. That is scary to think about. Smoking can affect many things in your life including your health, appearance and your finances. Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Smoking can cause yellow teeth and fingers and also bad breath. Don’t even get me started on the fact that smoking can be an expensive hobby. In the state of Virginia, the average cost for a pack of cigarette is $5.25, according to fairreporters.net. If a smoker smokes three packs per day, that is about $5748.75 per year. That extra money could be spent on your family. Choosing to damage your body is one thing, but smoking doesn’t only affect your health, it also affects the health of the people are the closest to you. According to the (Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, 2017), second-hand smoke has the same harmful chemicals that mainstream smoke contains and prolonged exposure increases to the risk of lung disease by 23% to 25%. According to the U.S Food and Drug Administration (2017), there are more than 7,000 chemicals found in cigarette smoke and more than 70 of those chemicals are linked to cancer. Nicotine is the main component of tobacco. It is highly addictive, hence, the addiction that comes with smoking cigarettes. Nicotine causes the adrenal gland to release hormones that stimulate the brain and increases blood pressure and heart rate. Cigarette smoke also contains tar. Tar is a sticky brown substance that is produced when tobacco is burned. When the smoke is inhaled, tar forms a sticky layer inside of your lungs which will damage it and can cause cancer of the lungs, mouth, and throat. There are so many advantages of quitting smoking. By quitting smoking, you will improve your health and the health of others around you. The minute you stop smoking, the risks of getting a smoke-related disease will start to decrease. Because of the level of nicotine present in cigarette smoke, you may encounter some difficulties while trying to quit smoking but there are resources that can help you throughout the process. The first thing you should do is make the decision to quit and then make a list of the reasons why you want to do it. This way you will have something to refer to when you feel like giving up. Secondly, set a date at which you will quit and inform your family and friends about your upcoming journey. They might be able to motivate and help you when you are having hard days. The next thing to do is to remove any stimuli from your surrounding that could potentially cause you to revert. Some tools that can help you cope and have a smooth transition are counseling, nico tine replacement therapy, hypnosis, acupuncture therapy and support groups.