Common Sense For Dummies 101.....
Smoking seriously damages your lungs in several important ways. It interferes with your lungs’ natural cleaning and repair system. Smoking destroys the tiny hairs known as cilia that line the upper airways and protect against infection. Normally, your airways have a thin layer of mucus and thousands of cilia. The mucus traps the tiny particles of dirt and pollution you breathe in, while the thousands of cilia move like a wave to push the dirty mucus out of your lungs. When you cough, swallow or spit up mucus, the dirt leaves your lungs.
Because smoking destroys cilia, the dirt and pollution stays in your lungs, along with chemicals from cigarette smoke. This gunk in your lungs can put you at risk for developing lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chest infections and chronic cough.
Smoking also damages the air sacs, or alveoli, in the lungs, which makes it difficult to breathe. The alveoli at the ends of your airways are like little stretchy balloons. When you breathe in, the alveoli help absorb oxygen, and when you breathe out, they help get rid of the waste gas, carbon dioxide. When you smoke, the alveoli become less stretchy, so it’s more difficult for your lungs to take in oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. As alveoli are destroyed, the lungs transfer less and less oxygen to the bloodstream, causing you to feel short of breathIf you’re a smoker and you feel any of the following symptoms, you are experiencing signs of lung damage:
Alcohol's Effects on the Body
Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. Here’s how alcohol can affect your body:
Brain:
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.
Heart:
Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:
Liver:
Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.
Cancer:
Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:
Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease. Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.
Smoking seriously damages your lungs in several important ways. It interferes with your lungs’ natural cleaning and repair system. Smoking destroys the tiny hairs known as cilia that line the upper airways and protect against infection. Normally, your airways have a thin layer of mucus and thousands of cilia. The mucus traps the tiny particles of dirt and pollution you breathe in, while the thousands of cilia move like a wave to push the dirty mucus out of your lungs. When you cough, swallow or spit up mucus, the dirt leaves your lungs.
Because smoking destroys cilia, the dirt and pollution stays in your lungs, along with chemicals from cigarette smoke. This gunk in your lungs can put you at risk for developing lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chest infections and chronic cough.
Smoking also damages the air sacs, or alveoli, in the lungs, which makes it difficult to breathe. The alveoli at the ends of your airways are like little stretchy balloons. When you breathe in, the alveoli help absorb oxygen, and when you breathe out, they help get rid of the waste gas, carbon dioxide. When you smoke, the alveoli become less stretchy, so it’s more difficult for your lungs to take in oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide. As alveoli are destroyed, the lungs transfer less and less oxygen to the bloodstream, causing you to feel short of breathIf you’re a smoker and you feel any of the following symptoms, you are experiencing signs of lung damage:
- feeling out of breath when you walk up a short flight of stairs
- coughing
- spitting up mucus
- repeat chest infections
Alcohol's Effects on the Body
Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. Here’s how alcohol can affect your body:
Brain:
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.
Heart:
Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:
- Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle
- Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
Liver:
Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:
- Steatosis, or fatty liver
- Alcoholic hepatitis
- Fibrosis
- Cirrhosis
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.
Cancer:
Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:
- Mouth
- Esophagus
- Throat
- Liver
- Breast
Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease. Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.
We all die someway, somehow
Blood my g?
. I'd be lying to you if I said you ever stop having some level of craving but it is so much easier to handle now. They come, hit you, and then they're gone and you keep it moving.
I feel younger, more virile, more energetic, my pipe game has shot through the roof, and my wallet is fatter as a result. What's not to love?
