Why You Should Quit Smoking: The Health Risks of Tobacco and Nicotine

How Smoking and Nicotine Damage Your Body

You probably know about the relationship between smoking and lung cancer, but did you know smoking is also linked to heart disease, stroke, and other chronic diseases? Smoking can increase your risk for cancer of the bladder, throat, mouth, kidneys, cervix, and pancreas.

If you're ready to quit, learn how Tabex® can help you take the first step.

Why should you quit?

• Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the United States.
• Almost one third of deaths from coronary heart disease are due to smoking and secondhand smoke.
• Smoking is linked to about 90% of lung cancer cases in the United States.
• Too many adults still smoke, vape, and use other forms of tobacco, especially between the ages of 21 and 34.
• About half of U.S. children ages 3–11 are exposed to secondhand smoke.
• On average, smokers die more than 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.
• You can be one of the millions of people who successfully quit every year.

What makes cigarettes so toxic and dangerous?

There are more than 5,000 chemical components found in cigarette smoke and hundreds of them are harmful to human health.

Here are a few examples:

• 1,3-Butadiene: Used in rubber manufacturing; causes blood cancers.
• Arsenic: Used in wood preservation; linked to lung, skin, liver, and bladder cancer.
• Benzene: Industrial chemical; can cause leukemia.
• Cadmium: Found in batteries; linked to lung, kidney, and prostate cancers.
• Chromium VI: Used in dyes and paints; causes lung and nasal cancers.
• Formaldehyde: Preservative; causes leukemia and respiratory cancers.
• Polonium-210: Radioactive element; proven to cause cancer in animals.
• Tar: Residue of chemicals; sticks to lungs, teeth, and nails.

Carbon Monoxide & Nicotine: A Dangerous Duo

Carbon monoxide reduces oxygen in your blood and promotes artery hardening, leading to heart disease or attack.

Nicotine increases blood pressure and heart rate, narrows arteries, and causes dependence. It can remain in your body for 6–8 hours and withdrawal symptoms may occur. Some new tobacco products contain even more nicotine than traditional cigarettes.

Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke and vapor are harmful to non-smokers, especially children. Those exposed are at higher risk of heart and lung diseases. Children of smokers face more respiratory infections than those of non-smokers.

The Bottom Line

Cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and tobacco products contain dangerous toxins. The best thing you can do is quit entirely. Thousands quit every year — you can too. Start your journey to a smoke-free life today.

Written by American Heart Association editorial staff and reviewed by science and medicine advisers.