HOW SMOKING AFFECTS YOUR BODY

Let's face it. Cigarette smoking can feel good. Unfortunately, the element that makes them enjoyable - that rush of nicotine to your brain - also causes dependence.

When you inhale cigarette smoke, tar particles carry nicotine to your lungs, where it's absorbed. Blood sweeps the nicotine from blood vessels in your lungs to your heart, which pumps it through the arteries to the brain and rest of your body.

This entire process takes around eight seconds - faster than an intravenous injection.

(Pipe and cigar smokers - who often
don't inhale - absorb nicotine through
the lining of their mouths. As a result, blood concentrations peak much more slowly.)

Once in your brain, nicotine begins working. It stimulates the secretion of neuro- transmitters (chemicals in the brain), which appear to enhance awareness and judgment. Nicotine also increases dopamine levels, improving your mood. The substance has also been known to even enhance memory and reduce aggression.

Meanwhile, the rest of your body feels the effects of nicotine, too. It increases your blood pressure and heart rate while decreasing skin temperature. It increases the levels of various hormones, including adrenaline. The substance even has an impact on your muscle function and tone.

IT'S MORE THAN A HABIT

Heightened awareness. Enhanced judgment.
Better moods. Adrenaline boosts.

No wonder cigarette smoking is hard to quit.

So hard, in fact, that some experts feel that nicotine delivered through cigarettes is as addictive as heroin, cocaine and alcohol when absorbed into the lungs via smoking. Roughly one-third to one-half of cigarette smokers eventually become dependent upon it. Without a regular intake of nicotine, these smokers can develop physical withdrawal symptoms that may be extremely unpleasant and distressing.