Smoker's Health Risk Detection Profile - 54 tests @ 2499

Smoking and Health Risks

Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causes many diseases, and reduces the health of smokers in general.

Quitting smoking lowers your risk for smoking-related diseases and can add years to your life.

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and affects a person’s overall health.

• Smoking can make it harder for a woman to become pregnant. It can also affect her baby’s health before and after birth. Smoking increases risks for:
  • Preterm (early) delivery
  • Stillbirth (death of the baby before birth)
  • Low birth weight
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (known as SIDS or crib death)
  • Ectopic pregnancy
  • Orofacial clefts in infants​
• Smoking can also affect men’s sperm, which can reduce fertility and also increase risks for birth defects and miscarriage.
• Smoking can affect bone health.
  • Women past childbearing years who smoke have weaker bones than women who never smoked. They are also at greater risk for broken bones.
• Smoking affects the health of your teeth and gums and can cause tooth loss.
• Smoking can increase your risk for cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens that makes it hard for you to see). It can also cause age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is damage to a small spot near the center of the retina, the part of the eye needed for central vision.
• Smoking is a cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus and can make it harder to control. The risk of developing diabetes is 30–40% higher for active smokers than nonsmokers.
• Smoking causes general adverse effects on the body, including inflammation and decreased immune function.
• Smoking is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis.
• Smokers are susceptible to many chronic, debilitating age-related diseases including type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes.

People who smoke less than a pack of cigarettes a day have about a 44% increased risk of developing diabetes compared to nonsmokers, according to a 2007 Swiss study published in the JAMA.

More than 95% of smokers had insufficient blood levels of vitamin D in the winter (when little is absorbed from sunlight), according to a 2011 study published in the European Respiratory Journal.

Among smokers, this deficiency can lead to reduced lung function and faster decline in lung health, according to an October 2012 study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Possible harmful consequences of smoking including augmented oxidative stress as indicated by low serum uric acid levels and high liver transaminases concentrations, hyperglycaemia and high haemoglobin concentrations.

The calcium screen test is very important for all smokers. Evidence shows that smoking has a very negative effect on the overall bone health of a person. It also leads to faster bone loss (especially postmenopausal women, who are already at risk for osteoporosis). Smoking has also been shown to have a negative impact on bone healing after fracture.