Teen risk tabaco and lung cancer

The choice to quit smoking is one of the best health decisions you can make. Smoking damages nearly every organ and organ system in the body. Just living with a smoker increases your chance of developing lung cancer or heart disease from secondhand smoke by as much as 30 percent. All told, smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke cause about , deaths a year. Even current smokers who quit after being diagnosed with cancer are better able to heal and respond to treatment, reducing the chance of death from some cancers by up to 40 percent.

Nicotine dependence means you can't stop using the substance, even though it's causing you harm. Nicotine produces physical and mood-altering effects in your brain that are temporarily pleasing. These effects make you want to use tobacco and lead to dependence. At the same time, stopping tobacco use causes withdrawal symptoms, including irritability and anxiety.

Back to Lifestyle. Smoking can also worsen or prolong the symptoms of respiratory conditions such as asthma , or respiratory tract infections such as the common cold. Secondhand smoke comes from the tip of a lit cigarette and the smoke that the smoker breathes out. For example, if you have never smoked but you have a spouse who smokes, your risk of developing lung cancer increases by about a quarter.

Smoking cigarettes has many health risks for everyone. However, the younger you are when you start smoking, the more problems it can cause. People who start smoking before the age of 21 have the hardest time quitting. Teens who smoke are also more likely to use alcohol and illegal drugs. The problem is not just cigarettes.