Smoking and Environment: Do Not Leave Your Butts Behind

We are all well aware of the effects of smoking on our health. But how about on our environment? I do not think so. We know that if we do not stop the habit we may end up suffering various diseases, but how about its effects to the people around us? Cigarette smoking has varied effects on the global environment.

Butt Litter

There is an estimated 4.5 trillion butts which are non-biodegradable that are discarded into the environment every year. It has also been suggested that these butts represent one of the biggest litter problems the world faces today. In addition, it has been estimated that 1 in every 3 cigarettes end up as a litter. These cigarette butts can take up to 12 years to break down. Basically, the filter is composed of cellulose acetate which is a form of plastic, and as we all know, they do not decompose easily and there are many forms of plastic can even take up to 1, 000 years before they decompose.

E-Cig: A Healthy Gateway Device

Electronic cigarettes are also known as e-cigs, e-cigarettes, and smokeless cigarettes. This device has taken a bright start by attracting a large number of smokers from the different parts of the world. In fact, e-smoking has now become a highly adoptable fashion with a long lasting and far reaching positive outcomes. The days are gone when smoking was seen and as a connotation of poor health, careless attitude, and fallacious habit.

At present, electronic cigarettes have acquired a distinction in connection with their healthy results and people are now rapidly embarking upon saying bye bye to their traditional smoking and switching to a healthier way of smoking, not to mention a completely new experience. Below are some of the greatest advantages of using e-cigarettes, showing why these are more sought-after than traditional cigarettes.

Smoking While Pregnant: Damaging From the Inside

In addition to the different diseases that anyone may suffer from as a result of cigarette smoking, this habit is also the number one cause of all the adverse outcomes for babies. There can be too many complications that may occur when a woman smokes during pregnancy such as babies will be born prematurely, they can be too small, or they may even die before they are even born. A cigarette smoke has more than 4, 000 harmful chemicals and this includes nasty ones such as lead, cyanide, and other 60 cancer-causing substances. When a pregnant woman smokes, the toxin gets into the bloodstream, which is the baby's source of essential nutrients and oxygen.

It is important to know that none of these harmful chemicals are good for the baby. The two compounds which are extremely harmful are carbon monoxide and nicotine. These toxins are the culprit for every smoking related complication during pregnancy. And among these serious complications are premature delivery, stillbirth, and even low birth weight. All these things can be chalked up to the fact that carbon monoxide and nicotine work together in reducing the supply of oxygen for the baby. Nicotine is responsible for choking off oxygen as it narrows the blood vessels throughout the body, including those in the umbilical cord. The scenario is like forcing the baby to breathe through a very narrow straw. And to make things worse, the red blood cells that carry the oxygen start picking up the molecules of carbon monoxide. Thus, that narrow straw cannot hold as much oxygen as it should.

Male Impotence as a Consequence of Smoking

Tobacco use is popularly known to be a significant health concern. Nevertheless, there are still millions of men and women throughout the world who continue to use different tobacco products. The majority of anti-tobacco education and advertising efforts greatly focused on the traditional warnings of heart disease, lung cancer, as well as pregnancy complications. However, in the last two decades it has been found out that there is a significant link between smoking and male impotence. Now, if stroke, heart disease, and various cancers are not enough reason for men to quit smoking, then they have to be aware that the habit increases their risk of erectile dysfunction.

Erectile dysfunction is also called as impotence or ED. This refers to a man's inability to sustain an erection that is sufficient for sexual intercourse. The majority of men experience brief periods of erectile difficulties which are nothing to worry about. But when one has the inability to reach or maintain an erection for a few weeks, or even months, then medical help should be sought. Erectile dysfunction causes anxiety, stress, and affects self-confidence which can have a great impact on relationships.

Cigarette Smoking: Save the Gum from Harm

Cigarette smoking is widely known bad habit. It is unhealthy and harmful by causing different serious diseases and illnesses of the body, even affecting those who are nonsmokers. But, smoking is not just one of the major causes of respiratory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, etc. This also affects the gum and the oral health of a person. Smoking is also known to reduce the overall health level of a person and not known to many, that the effects actually start from the mouth where a smoker puffs his every cigarette butt.

Gum disease or also known as periodontal disease is a kind of infection that begins with dental plaque which  contains harmful microorganisms and bacteria in the mouth. The plaque is being accumulated in between the teeth and gums. When this is not removed through regular brushing and flossing, this becomes a tartar. This bacteria-containing plaque and tartar is responsible for the inflammation and infection of the gingival margin. And this becomes gingivitis, the first step of gum disease. When this becomes worse, the little spaces which are called as periodontal pockets begin to develop between the teeth and gums. These little spaces are not visible to the eye and appears when the infection has reached and destroyed the alveolar bone, the bone that holds the teeth in place. When this bone deteriorates, periodontitis takes place, the second stage of gum disease.