Little Known Side Effects of Smoking that Impact our Overall Wellness

Smoking can be responsible for a number of little known side effects that can impact our senses, how we look to others, and overall wellness of our body.

We all know about the potential impact on our major organs but as it turns out there’s more visible impacts to our health.

These little known side effects are such things as aging of the skin, hair loss, dulling of the taste buds and weakening of the bones.

Let’s delve a little deeper into each of these areas to see what’s going on behind each of these concerns.

Aging of the Skin:

Smoking promotes the premature aging of the skin. A smoker‘s face can begin to show signs of aging in the early to mid 30’s. In fact the smoking habit can make a person look as much as 10 to 20 years older than they actually are – and our looks are something most of us want to maintain as long as we can.

Smoking increases the damage to skin because it provides ammunition to the powerful and debilitating molecules known as free radicals that damage cells. Smoking reduces blood flow to the skin which means less oxygen is available to nourish it as well as fewer nutrients. Smoking breaks down collagen in the skin at a faster rate than the aging process does on its own. Smoking  also depletes the supply of vitamin A in the body. This is the vitamin that protects the skin from damage.

Hair Loss:

Research studies have discovered there’s a link between smoking and hair loss. Smoking has a negative effect on the circulation of blood throughout the human body.

The nicotine in cigarettes narrows the blood vessels and this reduces the quantity of blood that makes its way to the scalp. The scalp and hair follicles then become deprived of blood rich with oxygen. This means proteins and nutrients required for new hair growth are not available to do their work. This results in the loss of hair.

Dulling of the Taste Buds:

I think most smokers know their habit impacts their taste of food. Cigarettes make food less palatable because they deaden and dull the taste buds.

They also render the taste buds less sensitive to any number of different tastes. Another little known side effect comes about because of the connection between the senses of taste and smell. The cells that regulate the smell sensation are adversely affected when a person smokes. Be aware that nicotine can aggravate the taste buds to a point where in extreme cases consuming food is not an enjoyable experience!

Weakening of the Bones:

The nicotine found in cigarettes can make bones weaker and more brittle. This in turn can lead to permanent damage over time.

The medical term for brittle bones is osteogenesis imperfecta. Research studies have proven smoking can causes bones to lose strength and become weaker and more prone to injuries. The reason cited for this is because when nicotine is constantly present in the body it decreases the amount of the mineral calcium found in the bones.

Calcium is an essential building block of bones. When there is a low level of calcium in the bones they lose their strength and get progressively weaker. This is of particular concern to woman who have larger calcium requirements than men.

Far from impacting just major organs of a smoker’s body such as heart and lungs, smoking can cause many other health issues and this brief article has just touched on a few of these areas.

If you’ve decided the heath risk and implications are too high and are determined to quit and reside in my service area then I encourage you to learn more about my one session Quit Smoking Hypnosis in Metro-West Boston program.  If you’d prefer a self-hypnosis program then check out my recommended Quit Smoking Hypnosis Download product. Further details can be found at my web site below.

Erika Slater, CH
Director
Free At Last Hypnosis
http://www.freeatlasthypnosis.com
http://www.smoke-free-at-last.com