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by: ClareInnes
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Now I know that all of you smokers out there know darned well that smoking isn't good for you, so I'm not going to go on and on about the main problems that smoking can cause you, these things are already well documented, but I will say this; you can eat five portions of fruit and veg a day and exercise regularly, but healthy behaviour means little if you continue to smoke.

The message that 'smoking is bad for you' is an old one, so not everyone gives it much attention anymore. Here, however, is a list of some of the facts and figures that are not so well known about the health risks of smoking:

There are nearly 4000 chemical compounds in every single cigarette that you smoke, and of these, around 400 are toxic to your body. The tip of a cigarette burns at 700 degrees centigrade, whilst the core burns at 60. This combined heating and burning process turns the tobacco into various toxins (poisons, effectively) which is then sucked toward the butt as you inhale. If you smoke a cigarette right up until the filter, this is where you get a much higher level of toxins into your body.

The most damaging products are:

1) Tar, a substance that causes cancer

2) nicotine is the addictive substance and raises cholesterol

3) carbon monoxide reduces oxygen in the body

The damage caused by smoking is influenced by:

1) The amount of cigarettes that you smoke

2) If the cigarette has a filter or not

3) In what way has the tobacco has been prepared

More recent research has shown that smoking reduces life expectancy by seven to eight years and of the 300 people who die every day in the UK as a result of smoking, many are now comparatively young smokers.

The number of people under the age of 70 who die from smoking-related diseases exceeds the total figure for deaths caused by breast cancer, AIDS, traffic accidents and drug addiction.

I know you're all going to shout, ah c'mon at this one, but the ugly truth is this...if you started smoking at an early age, smoke more than 20 a day and inhale deeply, the greater your chances of getting lung cancer. It then takes roughly 15 years for your risk of getting lung cancer to drop to that of a non smoker.

Other cancers that are not so publicised are cancers of the mouth. If you smoke the risk is four times that of a non smoker to get cancer on or under the tongue, or on the lips. Another illness that smokers do not tend to be as aware of as lung cancer is COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), for which smoking is responsible for 80 percent of cases.

Emphysema is also a disease caused by long-term smoking, and here are a couple of scary numbers for you. If you smoke 20 a day, when you die and your lungs are examined, you will have a 94 percent chance of there being emphysema present. As a non smoker, however, that percentage drops to 90 who have little or no emphysema at all.

Lung fuction declines naturally with age, but when combined with smoking it drops about three times faster, and then breathlessness begins. Severe cases can end up on permanent oxygen before dying a slow and painful death from being unable to breathe.

And now one especially for the guys...did you know that smoking can affect your favourite person...yes, I am talking about mini-you! Men in their 30s and 40s can begin to suffer from erectile dysfunction because smoking can cause damage to blood vessels in various parts of your body. If the vessels are not functioning well in the penis, the blood cannot get there to do it's job. Nicotine narrows those arteries...that should give you something to think about!

Don't think that because you have no problems now, that you won't. Oh no...this narrowing problem increases over time so things could get worse later on (no apologies for scare tactics here). More importantly, a smoker with erectile problems should see a doctor, as this can be an indicator that cigarettes have already damaged other blood vessels, including those that supply blood to the heart.

The 'side-stream' smoke that comes off a cigarette between puffs carries a higher risk than directly inhaled smoke, so you're not doing your non-smoking partners, kids, friends, etc., any good either...feeling guilty yet...?

Children who grow up in a home where one or both of their parents smoke have twice the risk of getting asthma and asthmatic bronchitis. They also have a higher risk of developing allergies. Infants under two years old are more prone to severe respiratory infections and cot death.

Passive smoking has also been widely documented and the link between that and lung cancer is pretty well established, although the link between passive smoking and heart disease is not conclusive. What you can be sure of though, is that as a non smoker or an ex smoker, you can look forward towards a happier and healthier old age.

The message after all of this (and you must be a little bit interested if you're still with me) is that there are people around who care about you, and programmes out there that can help you to quit. So do it for you (and for me)...stop smoking now!