Cigarette smoke

Cigarette smoke contains over 4000 chemicals and 69 of these are known to
cause cancer. Even if you don't smoke you can still get sick from these
poisonous chemicals just by breathing in other people's smoke.
When you smoke a cigarette, you breathe in some of the following:
Tar, Nicotine and Carbon Monoxide Yields
Most smokers are familiar with tar, nicotine and
carbon monoxide, because many governments
require manufacturers to measure them for every
cigarette brand and display the results on
cigarette packs.
Tar
Tar is not a specific smoke constituent, but a term
that refers to particles in the smoke that are
measured in machine test methods. These
particles are made up of many smoke
constituents, including some that public health
authorities believe are likely causes of smokingrelated diseases like lung cancer.
Nicotine
Nicotine is a naturally occurring chemical in the tobacco plant. When tobacco is
burned, nicotine transfers into the smoke. Nicotine has been identified by
public health authorities as the addictive substance in tobacco smoke.
Normally, our bodies produce small amounts of nitrogen oxide, which causes
our airways to expand. The large amount of nitrogen oxide in tobacco smoke
changes things in two ways:

When smokers are smoking, it expands their airways even further,

making it easier for their lungs to absorb nicotine and other chemicals.
When they are not smoking, it shuts off their internal nitrogen oxide
production line, causing their airways to constrict. This is one reason why
regular smokers often have difficulty breathing.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide is a gas that is formed in tobacco smoke. Carbon monoxide

has been identified as a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (heart disease)
in smokers.
Like hydrogen cyanide, it kills cilia and reduces our lungs ability to clear away
toxins. This means that while carbon monoxide does not cause cancer directly,
it makes it easier for other chemicals to do so.

Hydrogen cyanide

Hydrogen cyanide is a poisonous gas. Of all the chemicals in tobacco smoke, it

does the most damage to the heart and blood vessels.
Hydrogen cyanide does not cause cancer, but it increases the risk of other
chemicals causing cancer by damaging cilia. These are tiny hairs lining the
airways that help to clear toxins away. By killing cilia, hydrogen cyanide causes
other dangerous chemicals to be stuck in the lungs and airways.

Metals

Including lead, nickel, arsenic (white ant poison) and cadmium (used in car
batteries).
Chemicals in cigarette smoke affect the entire body. This is why smoking
causes so many diseases, including a dozen types of cancer, heart disease and
various lung diseases.As soon as you take a puff on a cigarette or breathe in
someone elses smoke, poisonous gases like formaldehyde will start to irritate
your eyes, nose and throat.

Your lungs and airways

When you inhale the smoke, it damages the tissues of your airways and lungs.
Chemicals likenitrogen oxide can constrict your airways, forcing your lungs to
do more work and making breathing more difficult.
Hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide and ammonia weaken the natural
cleaning mechanisms that clear your lungs and airways of toxins. This means
that other dangerous chemicals, bacteria and viruses that you inhale stay
inside your lungs.
Radioactive polonium-210 becomes deposited at the points where your airways
split to connect to your lungs. This can subject local cells to much more
radiation than they would otherwise experience.
From the lungs, cancer-causing chemicals and other poisons in tobacco smoke
are absorbed into your bloodstream. These poisons are then carried to other
parts of your body.
Circulation

When you smoke, the toxins from cigarette smoke enter your blood. The toxins
in your blood then:

Make your blood thicker, and increase chances of clot formation

Increase your blood pressure and heart rate, making your heart work
harder than normal
Narrow your arteries, reducing the amount of oxygen rich blood
circulating to your organs.

Together, these changes to your body when you smoke increase the chance of
your arteries narrowing and clots forming, which can cause a heart attack or
stroke.

Heart

Smoking damages your heart and your blood circulation, increasing the risk of
conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, peripheral
vascular disease (damaged blood vessels) and cerebrovascular disease
(damaged arteries that supply blood to your brain).
Carbon monoxide from the smoke and nicotine both put a strain on the heart
by making it work faster. They also increase your risk of blood clots. Other
chemicals in cigarette smoke damage the lining of your coronary arteries,
leading to furring of the arteries.
In fact, smoking doubles your risk of having a heart attack, and if you smoke
you have twice the risk of dying from coronary heart disease than lifetime nonsmokers.
The good news is that after only one year of not smoking, your risk is reduced
by half. After stopping for 15 years, your risk is similar to that of someone who
has never smoked.
Skin

Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen that gets to your skin. This means that
if you smoke, your skin ages more quickly and looks grey and dull. The toxins in
your body also cause cellulite.
Smoking prematurely ages your skin by between 10 and 20 years, and makes it
three times more likely you'll get facial wrinkling, particularly around the eyes
and mouth. Smoking even gives you a sallow, yellow-grey complexion and
hollow cheeks, which can cause you to look gaunt.
The good news is that once you stop smoking, you will prevent further
deterioration to your skin caused by smoking.
Oral health

Yellow teeth are an obvious cosmetic side-effect of smoking, but dental damage
does not stop there: people who smoke are more likely to develop gum
disease and persistent bad breath than those who don't.
The most serious damage smoking causes in your mouth and throat is an
increased risk of cancer in your lips, tongue, throat, voice box and gullet
Asthma

When a person inhales tobacco smoke, irritating substances settle in the moist
lining of the airways. These substances can cause an attack in a person who
has asthma.
This problem can be compounded because smoking could lead to permanent
damage to the airways and can block the benefits of asthma medication.
Bone strength

People who smoke may develop brittle bones - a condition known

as osteoporosis.
This is because smoking has a toxic effect on bone by stopping the
construction cells from doing their work. The toxins upset the balance of
hormones, such asoestrogen, that bones need to stay strong.

Impotence

Smoking increases the chances of impotence dramatically for men by affecting

blood vessels, including those that must dilate in order to achieve an erection.
A study of more than 2,000 men in the US aged between 40 and 79 found that
those who smoked were more likely to experience erectile dysfunction that
those who did not.
Early menopause

A study in the journal Menopause found a significant association between

women who smoke and early menopause.
A review of 11 studies found that smokers experienced an onset of the
menopause approximately one year earlier on average.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals. About 70 of them are known cause

cancer .

Smoking cigarettes is the number-one risk factor for lung cancer. But, smoking can to n affect your entire
body, and is known to cause cancer in the:

Lungs

Trachea

Bronchus

Esophagus

Oral Cavity

Lip

Nasopharynx

Nasal Cavity

Larynx

Stomach

Bladder

Pancreas

Kidney

Liver

Uterine Cervix

Colon

Rectum

In addition, smoking is known to cause leucemia.

Bones
Smoking is one of many factors that increase your risk for osteoporosis, a
condition in which bones weaken and become more likely to fracture.

Significant bone loss has been found in older women and men who smoke.
Quitting smoking appears to reduce the risk for low bone mass and fractures.
However, it may take several years to lower a former smokers risk.
In addition, smoking from an early age puts women at even higher risk for
osteoporosis. Smoking lowers the level of the hormone estrogen in your body,
which can cause you to go through menopause earlier, boosting your risk for
osteoporosis.
Stomach
Smokers have an increased chance of getting stomach cancer or ulcers.
Smoking can weaken the muscle that controls the lower end of your gullet
(oesophagus) and allow acid from the stomach to travel in the wrong direction
back up your gullet, a process known as reflux.
Smoking is a significant risk factor for developing kidney cancer, and the more
you smoke the greater the risk.
Brain
Smoking increases your risk of having a stroke by at least 50%, which can
cause brain damage and death. And, by smoking, you double your risk of dying
from a stroke.
One way that smoking can increase your risk of a stroke is by increasing your
chances of developing a brain aneurysm. This is a bulge in a blood vessel
caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall. This can rupture or burst which
will lead to an extremely serious condition known as a subarachnoid
hemorrhage, which is a type of stroke, and can cause extensive brain damage
and death.

Sources: http://www.oxygen.org.au/hardfacts/whats-in-cigarette-smoke
http://www.pmi.com/eng/our_products/whats_in_smoke/pages/whats_in_s
moke.aspx
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerinfo/healthyliving/smokingandtobacco/whatsinacigarette/smoking-andcancer-whats-in-a-cigarette
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerinfo/healthyliving/smokingandtobacco/whathappensinyourbody/
http://www.nhs.uk/smokefree/why-quit/smoking-health-problems
http://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/health-effects/smoking-health/