The effects of smokingWhen I ask my father why he started smoking, he replies that he is cool. Millions of people started smoking without knowing what would happen to them in the following years. Most smokers like my father have tried to quit but failed. There are many side effects besides bad odor. If you have children there is the possibility of transmitting passive smoking which can lead to the same diseases contracted by the smoker. Most smokers don't even know the composition of a cigarette and what those chemicals can do. Nicotine is an insecticide and interferes with the nervous system. When a smoker smokes nicotine, it reaches the brain faster in about 7 seconds. This stimulates brain cells and blocks nerve impulses. This is where addiction doesn't happen with tobacco but with nicotine. "Nicotine also causes an acceleration of the heartbeat, but at the same time leads to contraction and hardening of the arteries." (Tabaco Stop Center)The same gas your car produces called carbon monoxide is the same gas found in cigarette fumes. Smokers who inhale cigarette smoke instead of oxygen carry carbon monoxide in their blood or hemoglobin which takes its place and is transported. This not only affects the cardiovascular system and causes a heart attack, carbon monoxide also narrows blood vessels and can produce blood clots. It takes 24 hours for carbon monoxide to leave the blood system. Another chemical is irritants that cause paralysis and destruction of the cilia of the bronchi, the cilia clean, filter and clean the lungs. It takes two days after smoking for the eyelashes to function properly. “The chemistry of tobacco smoke no less than 4000 irritating, suffocating, dissolving, flammable substances……half of the paper……dence linking smoking to lymphoma, leukemia and brain tumors in children, and laryngeal tumors ( voice box), pharynx (throat), sinuses, brain, bladder, rectum, stomach and sinus in adults.” (Tobaco Stop Center). “IARC reported in 2009 that parents who smoked before and during pregnancy were more likely to have a child with hepatoblastoma” (IARC). Hepatoblastoma is a rare liver cancer that occurs when the fetus is still in the womb. More and more companies have finally realized the dangers of this bad habit. Most on-site restaurants and bars do not allow smoking on their premises. People are inclined to see the unhealthy implications. In the coming years we all hope to see fewer of these preventable diseases. There is no debate about what causes cancer, it's been written on the box for years. Hopefully the new generation has fined something else to make them interesting.