Heart disease, cancers, respiratory problems, and a weakened immune system: these are just some of the long term effects of smoking. Teenage smoking is a steadily increasing phenomenon, but most of these young adults fail to grasp the gravity of the long term implications of smoking on their health.

Teenage Smoking:  A Troublesome Phenomenon.

Ah, those teenage years: Full of adventure, spontaneity, and the excitement of new experiences. But for many teenagers, this novel time of their lives is marred by the adoption of bad habits that will inevitably have an adverse impact on the rest of their existence. The statistics speak for themselves: The incidence of teenage smoking increases by 3000 individuals every day, more than 54% of students try smoking at some point during their lives, and 60% of students who engage in teenage smoking find themselves unable to quit this perilous habit later on in life. The problem lies with teenagers being unable to understand that the long term effects of smoking will cripple their lifestyles and compromise on their health. Teenage smoking is their ticket to social acceptance, their act of rebellion, their mode of stress management and their escape from boredom. For them, the long term effects of smoking hold no real meaning.

Teenage Smoking: The Long Term Effects of Smoking

Spreading awareness about the detrimental long term effects of smoking may deter some teenagers from teenage smoking. Highlighting that each cigarette smoked brings them one step closer to dire health consequences and a poor quality of life as they grow older might encourage them to cut down and eventually quit teenage smoking.

• Respiratory issues: Cigarette smokers suffer from a reduced rate of lung growth and lower lung functions. This leads to the problem of shortness of breath in smokers, which means that they have to breathe faster to get the quantity of oxygen required by the body.
• Compromised Immunity: smoking reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of the immune system. Smokers are more likely to catch viral diseases and other illnesses.
• Heart problems: early signs of heart disease and stroke have been traced back to teenage smoking. Moreover, the resting heart rates of teenage smokers are faster by 2 to 3 beats than those of non-smokers.
• Compromised fitness levels: teenage smoking affects physical fitness and stamina. Research suggests that smokers who routinely smoke a pack or more daily cut down their life expectancy by 7 years.
• Addiction and drug abuse: statistics show that those who engage in teenage smoking are 22 times more likely to try cocaine, 8 times more likely to try marijuana, and three times more likely to drink alcohol than non-smokers. Moreover, they are also more likely to engage in hazardous activities such as unprotected sex and fighting.
• Cancers: Teenage smoking increases the risk of suffering from cancers later on in life. Smokers are more likely to suffer from mouth cancer, throat cancer and lung cancer.