• Question: Why is smoking so bad for you?

    Asked by sebisepic to Jen, Jill, Mel, Phil, Stef on 14 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by jonty, zaras123.
    • Photo: Stefan Piatek

      Stefan Piatek answered on 14 Mar 2013:

      So many reasons. There are lots of terrible things in cigarette smoke. There’s a lot of tar, charged nanoparticles, nicotine and free radicals.

      For nicotine, it’s incredibly addictive (more than cocaine I seem to remember hearing) which makes smoking particularly dangerous because you’re less likely to stop.

      All of the other stuff changes your lungs by coating them with a load of gack, this makes it harder for oxygen to get to your blood! It also changes the way your lungs are structured, and even can change how your fighter cells (immune cells) react to infections or yourself!

    • Photo: Phil Rice

      Phil Rice answered on 14 Mar 2013:

      What is really surprising about smoking is that when Dr Richard Doll investigated the possible causes of the huge increase in the number of cases of lung cancer after the second world war, he though it would be because of air pollution, because EVERYONE at that time smoked!!
      Having smoked for 20 years(!), like EVERY single member of my entire family, I can confirm that even if it was not bad for you, why would you do it? It’s just not necessary to enjoy life. I just wished I had never started and I would have been a better footballer at Med School. Now, only one person in my family smokes – my brother.

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