You know that smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, and skin problems, but if these are not enough reasons for you to give up your favorite cigarette, WebMD has compiled 10 compelling reasons for you to kick that habit.
Alzheimer's Disease: Smoking Speeds Up Mental Decline
Smoking likely puts into effect a bad cycle of artery damage, clotting, and increased risk of stroke, causing mental decline, writes researcher A. Ott, MD, a medical microbiologist with Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands.
A recent study provides substantial evidence that chronic tobacco use is harmful to the brain and speeds up onset of Alzheimer's disease.
Lupus: Smoking Raises Risk of Autoimmune Disease
Smoking cigarettes raises the risk of developing lupus -- but quitting cuts that risk, an analysis of nine studies shows.
Systemic lupus erythematosus -- known as lupus -- is a chronic autoimmune disease that can cause inflammation, pain, and tissue damage throughout the body. Although some people with lupus have mild symptoms, it can become quite severe.
Harvard researchers reviewed studies that examined the relationship between cigarette smoking and lupus. Among current smokers, there was "a small but significant increased risk" for the development of lupus, they reported.
SIDS: Maternal Smoking Doubles Risk
Smoking increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, a European analysis shows.
Researchers compared 745 SIDS cases with more than 2,400 live babies for comparison and concluded that just under half of all deaths were attributable to infants sleeping on their stomachs or sides. Roughly 16% of SIDS deaths were linked to bed sharing, but for unknown reasons, bed sharing was particularly risky when the mother smoked.
Maternal smoking alone was associated with a doubling in SIDS risk. The risk was 17 times greater, however, for babies who bed shared and had mothers who smoked. The findings are reported in the Jan. 17 issue of The Lancet.
Colic: Smoking Makes Babies Irritable, Too
Exposure to tobacco smoke may increase babies' risk of colic, according to a review of more than 30 studies on the topic.
Colic often starts a few weeks after birth, peaking at about 5 to 8 weeks of age. It usually goes away by 4 months of age. Colic's symptoms include irritability, inconsolable crying, red face, clenched fists, drawn-up legs, and screaming.
An Increased Risk of Impotence
Guys concerned about their performance in the bedroom should stop smoking, suggests a study that linked smoking to a man's ability to get an erection.
A study of nearly 5,000 Chinese men showed that men who smoked more than a pack a day were 60% more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction, compared with men who never smoked cigarettes.
Blindness: Smoking Raises Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Smokers are four times more likely to become blind than those who have never smoked. But quitting can lower that risk, other research shows.
Age-related macular degeneration is a severe and progressive condition that results in loss of central vision. It results in blindness because of the inability to use the part of the retina that allows for 'straight-ahead' activities such as reading, sewing, and even driving a vehicle. While all the risk factors are not fully understood, research has pointed to smoking as one major and modifiable cause.
Rheumatoid Arthritis: Genetically Vulnerable Smokers Increase Their Risk Even More
People whose genes make them more susceptible to developing rheumatoid arthritis are even more likely to get the disease if they smoke, say Swedish researchers.
In fact, certain genetically vulnerable smokers can be nearly 16 times more likely to develop the disease than nonsmokers without the same genetic profile, according to the study in the October issue of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Snoring: Even Living With a Smoker Raises Risk
Smoking - or living with a smoker -- can cause snoring, according to a study of more than 15,000 men and women.
Habitual snoring, defined as loud and disturbing snoring at least three nights per week, affected 24% of smokers, 20% of ex-smokers, and almost 14% of people who had never smoked. The more people smoked, the more frequently they snored, the researchers reported in the October issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Even nonsmokers were more likely to snore if they were exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes. Almost 20% of these nonsmokers snored, compared with nearly 13% who had never been exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
Acid Regression: Heavy Smoking Linked to Heartburn
People who smoke for more than 20 years are 70% more likely to have acid regression disease than nonsmokers, researchers reported in the November issue of the journal Gut.
Roughly, one in five people suffer from heartburn or acid regression, known medically as GastroEsophageal Reflux Disease or GERD.
Breast Cancer: Active Smoking Plays Bigger Role Than Thought
Research in 2004 shows that active smoking may play a much larger role in increasing breast cancer risk than previously thought.
In the study, published in the Jan. 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers looked at breast cancer risk among 116,544 women in the California Teachers Study who reported their smoking status. Between 1996 and 2000, 2,000 of the women developed breast cancer.
The prevalence of breast cancer among current smokers was 30% higher than the women who had never smoked -- regardless of whether the nonsmokers had been exposed to secondhand or passive smoke.
Those at greatest risk: Women who started smoking before age 20, who began smoking at least five years before their first full-term pregnancy, and who had smoked for longer periods of time or smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day.
Source: WebMd
