Question: Why is smoking stated as the cause of so many physical problems as opposed to small particles from other environmental things, such as food, air, soil, pesticide, auto emission toxins, etc.? It seems to me that all would contribute to disease.
Dr. Hibberd's Answer:
I agree that toxins of all sorts invade us from our air, water, and food sources. Between our kidneys and liver, we have very effective detoxifying abilities to manage many environmental toxins, but we have no defenses from the terrible effects that smoking tobacco has on our bodies.
Smoking causes bad breath and premature wrinkling and aging of our skin to elevated risk for vascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease, as well disabling chronic lung disease. We also risk hypertension, premature birth, pregnancy complications, and elevated malignancy risk, as well as complications to underlying conditions such asthma, diabetes, malignancy, and vascular or structural cardiac disease.
Trust me, tobacco is a major income-producing crop and the largest contributor to unnecessary health expenses throughout the world. If you want to shorten your life or make life difficult for yourself later on, just carry on smoking or chewing tobacco, and mark my words: It will not be a matter of "if" just "when."
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