How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease

Tobacco smoke is a toxic mix of more than 7,000 chemicals. Many are poisons. When these chemicals get deep into your body’s tissues, they cause damage. Your body must fight to heal the damage each time you smoke. Over time, the damage can lead to disease.

The chemicals in tobacco smoke reach your lungs quickly when you inhale. What this new report shows is that these same poisonous chemicals reach every organ in your body. They go quickly from your lungs into your blood. Then the blood flows through your arteries. It carries the chemicals to tissues in all parts of your body. Your lungs, blood vessels, and other delicate tissues become inflamed and damaged when you smoke.