mayoraasei | the many ways in which smoking can kill you

It's so damn persistent!

1. The materials inside the cigarette (tar, bunch of chemicals) are high carcinogenic and will directly stimulate initiation and promotion of cancer cells within the lungs.
2. Of the materials that could be absorbed into the blood stream, much of them will circulate and stimulate initiation and promotion of cancer cells all around the body.
3. The entry of highly irritable chemical substances into the airway stimulates inflammatory responses that become prolonged. Chronic inflammation debilitate the surrounding cell matrix and has a strong correlation to the development of cancer.
4. (This sort of relates to the last point) Smoke contains non-biodegradable material that become absorbed by phagocytes (a type of white blood cell). Because they are highly reactive and non-biodegradable, they often kill the phagocyte. Other phagocytes absorb the released chemical, and the vicious cycle repeats itself. Meanwhile, due to the highly destructive movements of the phagocytes, surrounding tissues are severely scarred. In the lungs, the loss of surface area for air exchange cannot be restored, and this reduces the capacity for oxygen exchange. Not to mention that some material deposists itself directly on the cells for air exchange, further reducing the surface area.
5. Tar immobilises the cilia, causing a persistent cough and a decreased ability to remove mucus and unwanted substances - including non-degradable substances, microbes and dust - from the airway. This significantly increases the chances of contracting respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis.
6. Chemicals within the smoke promote the process of thrombosis (clot formation) within arteries, leading to atherosclerosis. Depending on the nature of such clots, it is very likely that these will result in a myocardial and/or a cerebral infarction. Better known as a heart attack and a stroke.

Ah...that is all we have learnt so far...that I can remember XD