How do cigarettes affect the body?
Cigarettes aren’t good for us. That’s hardly news we’ve known about the dangers of smoking for decades. But how exactly do cigarettes harm us? Let’s look at what happens as their ingredients make their way through our bodies, and how we benefit physically when we finally give up smoking. With each inhalation, the smoke brings more than 5,000 chemical substances into contact with the body’s tissues. From the start, tar, a black, resinous material, begins to coat the teeth and gums, damaging tooth enamel, and eventually causing decay. Over time, smoke also damages nerve endings in the nose, causing loss of smell. Inside the airways and lungs, smoke increases the likelihood of infections, as well as chronic diseases like bronchitis and emphysema. It does this by damaging the cilia, tiny hairlike structures whose job it is to keep the airways clean. It then fills the alveoli,...