If smokers knew the ways that smoking damages their BRAIN...

in #life6 years ago

These days, we don’t need anyone to tell us that smoking is bad for us. We know it does terrible things to our body’s organs and overall health. Yet people still smoke… because it’s an addictive habit.

But we now know that smoking not only affects your body’s other organs (such as your lungs) but it also damages your brain.

thumb-smokingbrain.jpg

Here’s how:

Smoking Causes Addictive Behavior
Tobacco is known for its addictive substance called nicotine. Once nicotine is inhaled it only takes 8 seconds to reach the brain. Consequently, it engages our brain’s receptors, and activates certain areas of the brain.

The result provides feelings of reward and pleasure, which is why the smoker ‘gets hooked’ on smoking, and so the vicious cycle begins.

As the smoking habit develops, the brain begins to develop a resistance to the nicotine and the number of receptors are reduced. The smoker then needs to increase their nicotine intake to make up for the decreasing effects.

Smokers will then (usually unconsciously) keep increasing the number of cigarettes they smoke each day to be able to experience the same level of pleasurable feeling they know they can get through smoking.

This is the reason why smokers who start out just smoking a couple a day, end up smoking a packet a day. Alternatively (or maybe additionally) the smoker may consciously select stronger cigarettes to achieve the same result.

Smoking Reduces Your Feel-Good Receptors In The Brain
Smoking increases a person’s risk of suffering from depression and other mental health problems due to a reduction of the ‘feel good’ hormones in their brain.

This occurs because the artificial stimulation in the brain caused by the nicotine molecules – that are acting like neurotransmitters – lead to the long-term reduction of these receptors in certain parts of the brain.

IQ Levels Are Affected by Smoking
According to a study which had 20,000 young adults as participants, the more a person smoked, the lower their IQ became. The study showed that smokers aged between 18 and 21 years of age were found to have an IQ average of 94, while the non-smokers belonging to the same age group had an average IQ of 101.

The study included siblings, and the researchers found that the non-smokers had higher IQ scores compared to their siblings who smoked.

Smoking Lowers Your Ability To Concentrate
Many smokers will tell you that smoking helps them concentrate, and tend to smoke one cigarette after another whenever they are doing something that needs their full focus and attention.

However, studies prove otherwise. Experts have found that the reduced supply of oxygen to the brain, caused by the narrowing of the arteries, makes it harder to concentrate.

This habit doesn’t increase their concentration at all. It only causes fatigue, fidgeting and restlessness – all because of the reduction in oxygenated blood to the brain. Again, the vicious cycle starts, as to compensate for their fatigue and lack of focus, they light up another cigarette.

Smoking Leads to a Reduced Brain Volume
Another way smoking affects your brain health is it reduces brain volume. Studies show that smokers are more likely to reduce their hippocampus and overall brain volume at a rate faster than non-smokers. This is one of the reasons why smokers experience premature cognitive decline.

Any perceived “nicotine hit” will be very temporary,
however the negative health impacts will be long-lasting.

This is worrying information for any smoker. Fortunately there is a lot of help available to those who want to stop smoking. Both natural therapies and medical help.

Now you’ve seen the ways in which smoking affects your brain (okay, the way that smoking DAMAGES your brain), the next step is obvious. I hope you’ll take it.

Written by Gary Harvey and first published here
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Health disclosure: I'm not a medical expert which is why I usually provide links to source material. My goal is to share information to enhance the health of our readers and their loved ones.

Photo credits: Stencil

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I've always thought smokers were daft, now I know why ;)

Thank you for sharing,at least I have an idea of what to tell my dad that's smoke, how harmful it is

And the impact on the brain is not the end of the damage. Every organ is affected, so I've read, but your brain is kinda important.
Gary

I smoked for a about ten years before I decided to quit. I've had a few slip ups that I corrected quickly, but for the most part, I've been smoke free 14 years now. It's a long hard road to quit and it's something you have to work on your entire life if you want to stay smoke free.

One thing I can say for anyone trying to quite - it comes in waves that seem to get farther and farther apart. The first day is hard. Then the third day. Then the 9th. Then it will be 1 month before you get the urge to smoke. Then 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, etc. The urges get farther and farther apart, but they always seem to reappear and it's important to be aware of that so you can expect them and fight them.

Thanks for sharing about the waves, Stephen. Great to know they get further apart as time goes on. Do the urges also get weaker?
Congrats on giving nicotine the boot!
Gary

Oh for sure it gets easier. It's just that if you let your guard down and the urge comes back, it's easier to slip up rather than if you are aware that the urge will always come back. It's necessary to always be on guard and never let your brain trick itself into thinking having even one smoke won't lead to more.

Sounds like wise advice to me, thanks Stephen.
Gary

While I think of it, Stephen, you have a highly desirable reputation of 63. What advice do you have for newcomers like myself who want to do well in Steemit? (as in make money by contributing quality content).

Although i can't say i don't earn money here, I'm not a huge earner like some. Just post because you want to and don't think about the money. If you can, hold on to as much steem as you can right now because we could all be the early adopters still. Steem could very well go to $100, $500, $1000, or more.

If you can post every day, do it. I can't say I do but I wish I could. It all adds up quickly if you stay consistent. A lot of the people i joined with (july 2016) are up in the 70s now. Because i don't post every day I sort of fell behind, but I'm okay with that. Actually reputation wasnt always a thing and it came in a few months after i joined.

Hold onto Steem? I've just converted all my Steem to SP. I did that so I can delegate it and get a return on that. Good move or bad? I guess I can always convert SP back into Steem. Looking at your wallet you've got a lot in SP so I take it that's a move you'd recommend.

Oh no SP is great. Especially if you're getting a return on your delegation. To me, Steem and Steem Power is the same thing. Both are worth the same it's just that it takes longer to sell the SP but it's better for the long term. The only reason I hold that steem in there and didn't power it up is for quick sells to buy other crypto currency fast or if I want to buy something with steem. I know that this years Steemit Silver Coin is going to be available soon so I will most likely use my steem to buy some of those. Last year I had to time it so I was powered down enough in time to buy some. This year, I'm prepared to buy some, but can still power down a little more if I want to get a few extra silver rounds. Once those come out, I'll be powering back up most of what's left. And I also will sell all my SBD for Steem/SP when the time and price is right.

Assuming these SMT's come out and there are communities created on steemit this year, Steem could easily go to at least $50, if not more, I hope.

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