Lesser known ill - Effects of smoking

When growing tobacco plants, farms use insecticides and fertilizers which remain in the plant until they have found a way into your body. Affecting one or the other organ which leads to lower levels of immunity and many long term side effects. Most smokers have their own reasons for starting or lighting up, but everyone has one thing in common, why they should stop!

Cigarettes contain more than 4000 chemicals of which a minimum of 51 affect your body. Carbon monoxide, tar and nicotine are the worst of them. Smokers are prone to more diseases. Everything from alzheimer's disease to blindness can be taken into account when trying to understand the truth behind what a smoke can do to you.

Blindness: Vision is something we take for granted. Do you think you could see a world in which you can’t see ? Smoking can restrict or completely stop the blood flow to your retina, leaving you unable to see. Is this something you want to works towards ?

Stroke: Changes of getting a stroke are much higher in smokers. Imagine a blood clot racing into your brain, this is sure to either kill you or leave you with some serious brain damage.

Impotence: For most people impotence can be a life altering situation.The mental and physical strain one would put their body through is unimaginable.The concept of not being able to have a child( weather you want to or not) is something every man/women dreads. Smoking increases the chances of impotence and erectile dysfunction medications will not help you.

Hair thinning: Hair growth requires sufficient blood circulation to your hair follicles. Smoking reduces the ability for your blood to reach the right places and increases the chances of baldness. Hair is one of those few things which depicts your identity, most people will recognize a change in your hair style. Imagine the only hair you have to play with is one which you can place on a manikin head in front of your mirror and admire!

Premature aging: Are wrinkles and freckles something that scare you?  Imagine going for a casting in a play and role you get offered is that of the mother/father of the role you were hoping to play. Smoking reduces the flow of oxygen to your skin cells and in turn cause premature aging.

Poor immunity: Imagine being sick all the time.Whenever you get a small injury or fall sick a smokers body takes much longer to fix the problem . The reduced levels of oxygen reaching your body cause the body to drop its levels of immunity. Injuries will take longer to heal and sicknesses longer to cure. The cells in your body which are trying to fix the problems are affected and their abilities restricted.

Effect on our bones: Smoking reduces the density of bone mass. Thinning of the bones or reduced density of the bones means, you are more prone to fractures. Add this to the reduces rate at which a smokers body fixes injuries and getting a fracture will be a very long troublesome and tedious experience. The Spinal bones are also heavily affected by smoking as the synovial fluid between your disc depletes faster than it would in a non-smoker. Osteoporosis is also known to be a possible result of smoking.

Sense of smell and taste: The sense of smell is a wonderful thing which in turns helps you recognize various tastes. Smoking reduces the ability for you to smell and hence in turn you will slowly begin to lose that amazing taste of great food. I can’t imagine myself eating great paneer butter masala and not being able to taste or smell the aroma it comes with, or not even realising how great it is.

Cost:  One of the biggest factors smokers don’t consider are the cost of smoking. Here are some calculations to help you understand how much of your money you are burning away.

1. An average of 5 cigarettes a day means Rs.50 , monthly meaning Rs.1500 and yearly Rs. 18000.


2. An average of 10 cigarettes a day means Rs.100 , monthly meaning Rs.3000 and yearly Rs. 36000.


3. An average of a pack (20 cigarettes) a day means Rs.200 , monthly meaning Rs.6000 and yearly Rs. 72000.

Lets just put this into perspective - ( for a smoker who smokes 10 smokes a day)

For an average smoker you would begin smoking during college (16-18yrs) and end around 66 ( average life expectancy of an Indian ) = 66-18=48*36000=17,28,000 - With that money you can get your child through school and college. Or look at it this way- when you are 40 you have already spent 7,29,000 just to help you reduce your life expectancy.

All these above calculations are assuming your friends are not stealing smokes from you, your not smoking extra on new years or during that late night chai!.

All in all the only thing smoking is doing to you is deteriorating your long term lifestyle for those momentary times of satisfaction, do you really think its worth it ?