Respiratory system addendum on smoking:

      Smoking can be deadly.

      - A little bit about statistics:

              Yes, there are stories about people that live to a ripe old age and smoke.

              Yes, you can win the lottery.

              - These things are all possible, BUT, chances are that if you smoke, you will die
              between 13 and 14 years earlier than a non-smoker.

      - Dangers of smoking:

              - destroy cilia lining the bronchi. In response to irritation, the lungs produce more
              mucus, but without cilia to sweep it out, it starts clogging the lungs leading to
              “smokers cough”.

              - kill macrophages in the lungs (thus preventing you from fighting off infections).

              - cause lung cancer (most people die within one year of diagnosis).

              - bladder, pancreas, mouth & throat cancers are also more common in smokers.

              - can cause emphysema (alveoli deteriorate, thus causing difficulty in breathing).

              - increases blood pressure & bad cholesterol leading to strokes & heart attacks.

              - wounds & bones take longer to heal - skin ages prematurely (wrinkles), taste and
              smell are less sensitive.

              - second hand smoke increases these risks for non-smokers.

              - smoking while pregnant deprives the fetus of oxygen.

      - Each year smoking kills approximately 440,000 people in the U.S.

              - more deaths than car accidents, alcohol & drug abuse, HIV & murders
              combined.

      - Quitting smoking can be difficult for some people due to nicotine addiction, but:

              - within a year lung capacity is almost back to normal.

              - within 15 years, the risk of heart disease and lung cancer drops back to normal.