Health impacts
To Smokers
- Smoking is the largest contributor to preventable death in Australia and is known to increase the risk of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and many other illnesses.
- In Queensland in 1999-2001, smoking caused 31% of lung cancer deaths, 22% of deaths due to coronary heart disease and 21% of deaths due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- International studies show that half of all long-term smokers will die prematurely; half in middle age. Most people who die in their 40s and 50s due to heart disease are smokers.
- Smokers are more than three times more likely than non-smokers to die in middle age.
- Long-term smokers suffer more disease and disability before they die at younger ages. On average they suffer reduced quality of life for a greater number of years than non-smokers. In addition to the crippling effects of chronic obstructive lung disease and stroke, disabilities exacerbated by smoking include reduced mobility from arthritis, vision and hearing loss, loss of fertility and impotence.
- More than 90% of cases of lung cancer are caused by smoking.
- In 1999-2001, there were more than 3,400 deaths per year caused by tobacco smoking in Queensland.
- In 2001-02, it was estimated that 168,115 hospital bed days were directly attributed to smoking-related conditions, at a cost of $137.8 million.
- Cigarette smoke contains the same chemicals found in rat killer, moth balls, nail polish remover, lighter fluid and toilet cleaner. It is a mix of 4,000 chemicals which can reach your brain, heart and other organs within 10 seconds of the first puff including:
- carbon monoxide – robs your heart of oxygen
- tar – clogs your lungs and causes or stimulates cancer
- phenols – paralyse and eventually kill the hair-like cells lining airways and
- fine particles – irritate your throat and lungs, cause ‘smoker’s cough’ and damage lung tissue.
- Nicotine affects the:
- central nervous system – a range of short term effects including pleasure, arousal, improved short term memory, improved concentration and decreased anxiety
- cardiovascular system – increased heart rate and blood pressure and peripheral vasoconstriction
- endocrine system – increased circulating catecholamines such as adrenaline and noradrenalin and increased cortisol levels
- metabolic system – increased basal metabolic rate
- gastrointestinal system – decreased appetite, nausea
- skeletal muscle – decreased tone.
- Quitting smoking leads to a marked and rapid fall in the risk of heart, stroke and vascular disease. The risk of a heart attack or stroke among former smokers has been reported to approach that of people who have never smoked within two to five years of quitting.
This page last updated:
June 2006
Review date: September 2006
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