The fact that smoking is harmful to health is known to all. However, in addition to influencing our body, this addiction has other disadvantages that poison our lives.

Reason # 1: Smoking can cause infertility in women and impairment of potency in men.

With statistics you can not argue: smoking increases the likelihood of male infertility by 30 percent. Smoking causes a spasm of blood vessels, and prolonged spasm is a serious malfunction in the supply of nutrients to all organs, including the organs of the small pelvis. As a result, impotence comes to men much earlier than it is laid by nature.

It is also proved that smoking is responsible for the development of about 13 percent of infertility in women. Fertility decreases, the risk of spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy increases. In women who smoke, menopause occurs on average three years earlier than non-smokers.

Reason number 2: Your appearance

Yellow teeth and tobacco-smelling hair, hands and clothes were never in vogue. And the more they are not in trend now, when the general passion   healthy lifestyle   gaining momentum. By the way, smoking also adversely affects the condition of the skin.

During smoking, free radicals form in our lungs, and these are the main enemies of our youth. They reduce the content of collagen in the upper layers of the epidermis, which leads to the formation of wrinkles and premature aging. Also, cigarettes cause a spasm of blood vessels, as a result, the skin suffers from hypoxia, which also does not betray the freshness of appearance.

Reason # 3: Smoking shortens life expectancy.

Scientists have shown that with each cigarette you smoke, life expectancy is reduced by about 5 minutes. Cigarette fans are much more likely to die at a young age than their non-smoking comrades. Men under the age of 40 who smoke more packs of cigarettes a day are 10 times more likely to die from cardiac arrest than their non-smoking peers. In general, smoking shortens life by at least 10 years. However, quitting smoking for 7 years can equalize the chances of life expectancy with people who have never smoked. Agree, a bad habit is not worth it to say goodbye to life in the prime of life. Non-smokers are twice as likely to live to the age of 80 than smokers.

Reason # 4: Smoking causes various diseases.

Smoking causes the development of lung cancer, atherosclerosis, hypertension, ischemic heart disease and, as a result, myocardial infarction.

Such a deadly disease like lung cancer in 90% of cases is associated with smoking. Moreover, the probability of its development is directly proportional to the number of cigarettes smoked per day: the more often a person indulges in this addiction, the higher the probability of becoming ill.However, even among the most avid smokers, there is a “light at the end of the tunnel”: after quitting smoking, the risk of developing lung cancer decreases as new lung cells replace damaged ones. And after fifteen years of abstinence, the chances of getting an ill-fated diagnosis are equal to those of people who have never smoked.

Smoking causes endothelial dysfunction (dysfunction of the vascular walls), which leads to the development of systemic atherosclerosis. The degree of damage to the walls of the arteries by atherosclerosis in smokers is two to three times higher than in non-smokers. Atherosclerosis is the main cause of ischemic development   diseases   heart (IHD), and as a consequence of myocardial infarction. Smoking, according to some sources, increases the risk of developing coronary artery disease by 3.5-6 times.

Studies conducted by cardiologists from different countries have shown that the risk of cigarettes smoked per day is higher, the higher the number of cigarettes smoked per day. And if, after a postponed heart attack, the smoker gives up his addiction, then only this measure will reduce the risk of a second heart attack by 40-50 percent.

Another sad consequence of this addiction is obliterating endarteritis. This disease is characterized by damage to the arteries of the legs, narrowing of their lumen with cholesterol plaques, up to a complete blockage. In severe cases, it may result in amputation of the legs. And all these gloomy prospects to get the above diseases are not uncommon among smokers.

Reason # 5: Banal budget savings

At current prices for tobacco, smoking is simply not rational. On average, a person smoking a cigarette takes 2500-3000 rubles per month. With this money it is quite possible to buy a subscription to the pool, gym, or go to a beautician. Agree, not a bad alternative.

Smoking or not smoking is up to you. After all, only you are responsible for your health and your future. But how it will be – depends on today’s decisions. Quit smoking, and this decision will make you better, healthier, happier today than you were yesterday, and give you the opportunity to become even better tomorrow.

Expert comment

Irina Arshinova, therapist, cardiologist

Getting rid of the habit of smoking is not easy. Electronic cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular – these alternative tobacco products are considered relatively harmless. However, a group of American scientists led by a toxicologist, Professor Yona Jaspers, published the results of their study, which showed the negative impact of electronic cigarettes. Samples of bronchial mucus from smokers (both regular cigarettes and electronic ones) and non-smokers were studied. When comparing the genes of the epithelial cells of those and others, it was found that the activity of the genes responsible for the work of the immune system is reduced in smokers of standard cigarettes. But the most interesting thing is that the activity of genes in electronic devices smoking is suppressed to a much greater degree: out of 600 genes involved in the work of the immune system, 358 (!) Have decreased. For comparison, when smoking conventional cigarettes, only 53 genes suffered.

In other words, everyone knows that smoking reduces immunity. But not everyone is aware that using electronic cigarettes reduces it even more. The worst effect was obtained with electronic devices stuffed with the popular cinnamon flavor additive.

Nicotine addiction leads to early disability and the death of every tenth inhabitant of the planet. That is why you need to talk about this problem and try to help get rid of it. At the World Congress of Cardiology in 2013, the drug varenicline (Champix) was recognized as the best way to get rid of the habit of smoking.

Professor,   pulmonologist   S.I. Ovcharenko (First Moscow State Medical University im.I.M. Sechenov) argues that now for people of the older age group is becoming the “norm” to have severe shortness of breath, significantly reducing the quality of life. Of course, various pathologies of the cardiovascular system and severe anemia can lead to difficulty breathing, but among others, the disease “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”, COPD is leading. It is worth noting that its immediate cause is smoking. A long episode of smoking (a decade) can significantly worsen the picture of your future old age.

Professor Drapkina OM (First MGMU named after IM Sechenov) is studying the genetic aspects of the development of diseases. In the course of scientific research it was found that active smoking directly reduces cell life, and also stimulates uncontrolled cell division, which leads to the formation of a tumor. This effect is due to the shortening of the chromosome region (telomere), which inhibits the mitotic activity of the cell.