Why should you give up smoking?
Here's a list:
Bad breath and stained teeth, bad smell in clothes, taste buds deadening, lower athletic ability, passive smoking - hurting the people around you; making them breathe your smoke, heart disease (see picture), stomach ulcers and acid reflux, wrinkles, premature ageing, faster heartbeat and raised blood pressure, stained fingers, lungs receiving less oxygen, risk of stroke, lung cancer, reduced sense of smell, gum disease...
When you smoke, the two chemicals carbon monoxide and nicotine affect the heart. These chemicals make your heart work harder. They also affect your platelets and make your blood more likely to clot.
The cigarette smoke also damages the lining of your coronary arteries. This causes fatty material to build up and cling to your artery walls (medically known as atherosclerosis).
