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In the United States, smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability, and disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 28 million adults in the U.S. smoke cigarettes, and each day about 1,600 young people try a cigarette for the first time.
Smoking affects your lungs, but did you know that it can take a toll on the rest of the body, too? In addition to an increased risk of lung cancer and heart disease, smoking also causes changes to your appearance, and may even contribute to early menopause. In fact, the CDC states that smoking causes harm to almost every organ in the body.
Here are seven additional ways that smoking can affect your life.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Preventi... + 15
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking & Tobacco Use: Data and Statistics. Page last reviewed May 4, 2023.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking & Tobacco Use: Fast Facts and Fact Sheets. Page last reviewed May 4, 2023.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking & Tobacco Use: Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking. Page last reviewed October 29, 2021.
- Karanjkar RR, Preshaw PM, Ellis JS, et al. Effect of tobacco and nicotine in causing staining of dental hard tissues and dental materials: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Exp Dent Res. 2023 Feb;9(1):150-164.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking, Gum Disease, and Tooth Loss. Page last reviewed May 5, 2022.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oral Health: Tobacco Use. Page last reviewed November 8, 2020.
- Lipa K, Zając N, Owczarek W, et al. Does smoking affect your skin? Postepy Dermatol Alergol. 2021 Jun;38(3):371-376.
- Sexual Medicine Society of North America, Inc. How Cigarette Smoking Can Contribute to Erectile Dysfunction. March 21, 2023.
- Allen M, Tostes R. Cigarette smoking and erectile dysfunction: an updated review with a focus on pathophysiology, e-cigarettes, and smoking cessation. Sexual Medicine Reviews. 2023 Jan;11(1):61–73.
- Zhu D, Chung HF, Pandeya N, et al. Relationships between intensity, duration, cumulative dose, and timing of smoking with age at menopause: A pooled analysis of individual data from 17 observational studies. PLoS Med. 2018 Nov 27;15(11):e1002704.
- Anderson DJ, Chung HF, Seib CA, et al. Obesity, smoking, and risk of vasomotor menopausal symptoms: a pooled analysis of eight cohort studies. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2020 May;222(5):478.e1-478.e17.
- Yazdanparast T, Hassanzadeh H, Nasrollahi SA, et al. Cigarettes Smoking and Skin: A Comparison Study of the Biophysical Properties of Skin in Smokers and Non-Smokers. Tanaffos. 2019 Feb;18(2):163-168.
- Action on Smoking and Health. How Smoking Affects the Way You Look. January 2022.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vision Loss, Blindness, and Smoking. Page last reviewed May 5, 2022.
- Siegel JK, Wroblewski KE, McClintock MK, et al. Olfactory dysfunction persists after smoking cessation and signals increased cardiovascular risk. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2019 Sep;9(9):977-985.
- American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Smoking and Musculoskeletal Health. Page last reviewed September 2021.
