World No Tobacco Day: smoking hurts more than just the lungs!

Today is the 31st World No Tobacco Day, many people talk about the harmful effects of smoking, often lung injury, easy to get lung cancer. But in fact, smoking is far more harmful than you think! 

Injury of lumbar vertebrae. 

Smoking too much can also damage the lumbar spine, raising the risk of lower back pain and lumbar spinal stenosis, leading to surgery, Swedish research has shown. The researchers report in the Journal of Spine that nicotine damages spinal tissue, making bones fragile and exacerbating inflammation, which in turn exacerbates back pain. 

Diabetes. 

“smoking and quitting smoking are associated with the risk of diabetes in Chinese men and women: a nine-year prospective study of 5 million people,” published online by Liu Xin of Xi’an Jiaotong University and others in the Lancet Public Health. After adjusting for age, socioeconomic status, alcohol consumption, physical activity and body mass index, long-term smokers had a 15% higher risk of diabetes than non-smokers. 

Heart disease. 

Wang Qiang, hypertensive Department, Shijiazhuang traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital: “there is ample evidence that smoking can lead to coronary heart disease,” according to a 2012 report on the health hazards of smoking in China issued by the former Ministry of Health. Nicotine, nitric oxide, and some oxidizing substances in cigarette smoke can lead to sympathetic excitement, elevated heart rate and blood pressure, arrhythmia, and even heart failure.