You might have heard this saying ‘5 minutes of your life is taken away each time you puff a cigarette’. If you haven’t then it’s a bitter truth. If you have heard it already then you might have ignored it probably. This is not a big loss and you may not feel the heat.

However if you think about all the time that you have spend smoking over the years you might realize the damage it has caused. If you are a regular smoker for a long time then you might have lost many years of your precious life already. On a long run it is estimated that a smoker’s life span is reduced by more than 2 months every year.

After many surveys conducted by leading health organizations, it has been found that cigarette is one of the main causes of deaths in US. Cigarettes are the most significant causes for cancer throughout the world. A cigarette has more than 60 deadly chemicals in it which can cause several diseases.

It is estimated around 90% of lung cancer disease is caused because of smoking cigarettes. This is preventable and you can also help yourself by quitting cigarettes. However the numbers of deaths are still high because people do not quit smoking in spite of the known consequences.

The effect of smoking is very severe on the heart. Smoking is the leading cause for many cardiac problems. Smoking is said to interfere with regular blood flow through the body, causing high blood pressure. In comparison to the number of deaths caused by lung cancer, more smokers die because of heart problems.

Millions of pre mature deaths are also caused by smoking. In fact cigarettes are the major reason of pre mature deaths in almost every country in the world. A majority of them being infants are more prone to bronchitis and asthma. Passive smokers are affected more than people who smoke. It is 25% more dangerous to the heart of a non-smoker and the ratio is even higher for infants. It also causes unwanted abortions in pregnant women.

In spite of all the warnings on the cigarette pack and advertisements by the government, the number of smokers has not reduced. In the past few years the number of smokers has actually increased.

The government and NGO’s are trying their best to decrease the number of people who take up smoking. The number of deaths caused by smoking is alarming.