The Heavy Smoker
Longterm Risks and Harmful Health Effects of Smoking Cigarettes
A heavy smoker is more likely to experience the dangers of cigarette smoking.
The smoking facts indicate that the probability of developing any of the health risks of smoking increases with the amount
smoked.
This is called a dose response relationship and it means that the higher the dose of
tobacco exposure and the longer that exposure goes on, the
greater the probability that you will develop one of the many bad health effects of smoking cigarettes.
The Smoking Facts
Pack years is a measurement that is used as
the international standard of tobacco exposure.
The measurement helps to quantify smoking risks to health by expressing both the number of
cigarettes and the length of time spent smoking in a single measurement.
Find out if you are a heavy smoker with the pack years calculator.
The longer
you smoke the higher your risk for developing the
diseases caused by smoking.
The more you smoke the more likely you are to have stronger nicotine cravings and
withdrawal symptoms when you try to quit.
Your tobacco exposure would be classed as "heavy" if you accumulate one pack year number
per year of smoking; this would be about 15 - 20 cigarettes per day.
Smoking Facts About Smoking Risks for the Heavy Smoker
Recent Smoking Facts
The final results of a long term study of men both smokers and non-smokers conducted at the University of Helsinki reveals that not only did the heavy smokers do more
poorly on physical functioning tests but on average their life span was about 10 yrs shorter. They also scored lower on all quality of life scores.
Strandberg Arto Y (2008) "The Effect of Smoking in Midlife on Health-Related Quality of Life in Old Age: A 26-Year Prospective Study." Archives of Internal Medicine Oct 2008.
The smoking facts reveal that no amount of smoking is safe. Many non-smokers suffer from the dangers of cigarette smoking
because of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
Even though you might consider yourself to be a non-smoker, you are still at risk of smoking diseases if you are
exposed to cigarette smoke in your environment from someone else's smoking habit.
This is called
secondhand smoking.
Go back to What Poisons Are in Cigarettes? - Smoking Facts
About Toxic Cigarette Ingredients
Go back to Smoking and Cancer - Facts on Smoking Risks and a Cancer Diagnosis
Return to the Home Page: Smoking Facts Reveal the Real Dangers of Cigarette Smoking
