Most people know that smoking is bad for them but many don't really understand just how bad it is. They know there are health risks but they push them to the back of their minds. If you are a smoker thinking, "well you've got to die of something haven't you" or "it won't happen to me" then you really should consider the facts and reasons to stop smoking.

A regular smoker is likely to have their life expectancy reduced by up to ten years. 

Do you really want to lose ten years of your life when you don't have to? Coupled with this is the likely prospect that the latter few years of your life if you are a regular smoker are likely to be of poor quality due to some heart or lung disease that could have been avoided. The adverse effects on one's health through smoking are manifest in the lungs, the blood circulatory system and the heart. 

In the lungs the constant irritation of inhaled smoke causes damage leading to reduced lung capacity and bronchitis. The lining of the airways tends to lose its cilia, the little hair-like protuberances which help to clear them of mucous and contaminants so that infection in the lungs becomes more likely. Older people who are regular smokers are more likely to succumb to a bout of flu and a secondary infection because of damaged lungs.

The effect of nicotine on the blood vessels is to constrict them, and, since the small blood vessels that supply blood to the heart, are all ready narrow and may have been further narrowed by a build up of plaque (atherosclerosis) which is very common, the last thing you need is further narrowing and restriction of blood flow. Such further restriction can easily lead to arterial blockage and a heart attack.