* When you smoke, the first thing that happens is a mix of gases is released around your eyes, nose and throat. This happens within the first few seconds. Your eyes may water, your nose might run and your throat will most likely become irritated.

* Cigarettes contain more than 4000 chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic substances.

* As you inhale cigarette smoke, nicotine moves deep into your lungs, gets absorbed into the bloodstream and quickly affects key parts of your body – not just the lungs, but also your central nervous system, your heart, and your brain. The “buzz” new smokers and regular smokers get from that first cigarette is a reaction to the release of epinephrine, similar to adrenaline, which then raises the heart rate, increases blood pressure, and constricts blood vessels. This pattern greatly increases your risk of lung cancer and can lead to heart disease, emphysema and other breathing conditions, and even a heart attack.

* Deep inside the lungs, cigarette smoke damages the floating scavenger cells that work to remove foreign particles from the lungs' tiny air sacs, called alveoli. A lot of what you inhale turns to tar. This tar isn't unlike what you might use to pave a road or shingle a house. Only about 30 percent of cigarette tar is sent back into the air through exhalation -- the rest sticks to your throat and lungs like saltwater taffy. Besides being disgusting, tar kills healthy lung cells. A pack-a-day smoker ingests a full cup of tar into his or her lungs every year.

What else happens when you smoke?

* Another thing that happens when you smoke is that your blood pressure rises by about 10 to 15 percent. High blood pressure means you have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

* Smoking not only affects the pressure, but it also damages the blood itself. When you smoke, carbon monoxide (CO) is created and ingested -- so much that smokers have about 4 to 15 times the amount of CO in the body than non-smokers. Carbon monoxide also is the same stuff that comes out of your car's tailpipe. When you smoke, it stays in your bloodstream for about six hours. This harmful chemical compound does its best to rob every cell in your body of oxygen, something cells need to function.

* Most smokers know the damage they're causing to their lungs, heart, blood vessels, and senses of taste and smell. Something many smokers may overlook is the damage being done to their skin.

While many of smoking's negative effects are reversible once you quit, there's no way to undo the skin damage.
The blood vessels in the skin constrict when you light up, limiting the amount of oxygen the skin gets.
The intrusion of CO puts further limits on the oxygen the skin needs. What does this mean? Wrinkles. "Smoker's face" is a condition long-term smokers suffer from.
What does it look like?
Deep, dark lines around the eyes and the corners of the mouth, for starters.
The skin may also appear gray in color, and facial features may appear gaunt. Not a pretty sight.
One study shows that nearly half of all smokers get smoker's face.
So besides wreaking havoc on your insides, cigarettes also ages you prematurely.

>> If this isn't enough to inspire you to put down the pack, think about your sex life.

* Research conducted by Boston University's medical school has shown that when men smoke, it can lead to erection problems. Among the 1,011 men studied that had erectile dysfunction, 78 percent were smokers. So if you're looking to have kids, you may want to think about quitting. Women don't get a free pass in this department either. Ladies who smoke heavily show a 43 percent decline in fertility and reach menopause nearly two years earlier, decreasing their reproductive years.

So

The harmful chemicals in cigarettes tear through every cell of your body like looters in a riot. The smoke affects the blood, skin, lungs, heart, your senses of taste and smell, and anything else it comes into contact with.

You may not be able to reverse the effects of premature wrinkling, but you can help out the rest of your body. Even if a person has smoked for years, it is never too late to quit! Soon after you stop smoking, your body starts to heal itself.

Making the effort to Qut Smoking
has immediate health effects and long-term lifestyle benefits.