Smoking
cigarettes fills the lungs with more than 7,000 chemicals—hundreds are harmful, and about 70 can cause cancer.
1 Cigarette smoking has been linked to about 90% of all cases of lung cancer.
2
Smoking
cigarettes is associated with increased risk of respiratory (breathing) diseases, including emphysema, bronchitis, chronic cough, and asthma.
Smoking
cigarettes injures alveoli—tiny air sacs in the lungs that help you breathe. This is what causes smokers to feel out of breath.
Marijuana smoke, like
tobacco smoke, contains many different damaging chemicals that irritate the lungs. These irritants can cause lung inflammation, phlegm buildup, frequent coughing, bronchitis, and other lung infections.
Cigarette smoking causes about one out of every five deaths in the United States each year.
3 On average, adults who smoke cigarettes die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.
4
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1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3/21/11.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11/21/13.
3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8/1/13.
4 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8/1/13.
A Dangerous Transformation
Click the image below to watch what happens over time when smoke is introduced into the lungs.