Scientists Have Concluded How Much Harm 5 Different Types of Smoking Actually Brings

As you probably already know, smoking is a dangerous habit not unlike alcohol and drug abuse. It kills about half a million people a year in the USA, where there are more than 36 million active smokers. Cigarettes have a long list of carcinogens and unhealthy ingredients which can significantly harm your lungs and your overall health as well.

Here are some of the most dangerous ingredients in cigarettes:

• Lead
• Formaldehyde
• Benzene
• Ammonia
• Arsenic
• Hydrogen cyanide
• Nitrosamines
• Nicotine
• Aromatic hydrocarbons
• Carbon monoxide
• Uranium

Even with the addition of the terrible pictures on cigarette packs, most people just aren’t inclined to quit the habit. The world is becoming more aware of the dangers of smoking and more and more people are switching to safer alternatives, but as it turns out, even these alternatives come with a host of side-effects. Here’s how each type of smoking harms your health:

E-cigarettes

One 2014 study showed that e-cigarettes are just as harmful as regular cigarettes. The propylene glycol, glycerin and battery output voltage create a dangerous combination that can increase the presence of carcinogenic compounds in the vapor, which makes them really dangerous.

Vaping

Vaping is really popular nowadays, and most people aren’t aware of how dangerous it is. The vaporizer vaporizes the liquid from the e-cigs immediately without the burning, which is actually even more dangerous than the e-cigarettes. A 2016 study found that there were higher levels of carcinogens in the lungs of those who vape compared to regular smokers, which is concerning.

Hookah

Many people think that pure, water-filtered tobacco contains less nicotine, but they’re wrong. A 2015 has found out that hookah can actually raise your heart rate and blood pressure and harms your respiratory organs. Hookah has also been related to emphysema, asthma and coronary artery disease, so it’s not exactly the best alternative for cigarettes.

Standard cigarettes

As you may already know, smoking is associated with lung cancer, emphysema and a variety of other life-threatening respiratory problems. Several studies have also related it to cardiovascular diseases, so it’s safe to say that the habit is life-threatening.

Marijuana

Marijuana is the best and safest alternative for standard cigarettes, although it does come with its host of negative side-effects. However, it also has more than a few positive ones, including the reduction of pain. This, and the studies done on marijuana which outline its efficiency in treating certain ailments is the main reason behind the push for legalization of the herb, which has already happened around the world and the USA as well.