Why you shouldnt smoke

Content Outline

: Health effect of smoking and why you should quit

General purpose : to convince my audience to stop smoking

Specific purpose : to convince my audience of the detrimental health effects of smoking

Central Idea : Despite years of warnings about the dangers of cigarette smoking , many people believe the only potential risk is of lung disease or cancer

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2007 smoking harms almost every major organ in the body . Right now , no waiting

More than 80 percent of the lung cancer

in the United States has a direct link to smoking (U .S . Department of Health and Human Services 2007

Today , let us talk about the three major body systems affected by smoking and how smoking begins to effect them even when you are young

Body

Everyone has heard the term smoker 's cough ' but do you really know what smoking is doing to your lungs

Lung cancer is the most widely publicized disease associated with smoking , but chronic lung disease is more common and affects 73 percent of smokers (American Lung Association 2007

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute says that Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD ) is most often caused by smoking . It blocks the smallest airways of your lungs and makes it hard to breathe

That cough is the first sign of COPD other signs included shortness of breath and wheezing

While most smokes think that the lung disease is an eventually problem of smoking , the effects of smoking on your heart are immediate

According to the American Heart Association (2007 ) website , smoking kills more people each year via heart disease than lung disease : 160 ,000 people .Smoking reduces the body 's good cholesterol , hardens the arteries increases blood pressure and triples your risk of dying from heart disease by middle age . This doesn 't wait for you to get old

The CDC and the American Heart Association have also discovered smoking doesn 't have to kill you : it might just cripple you

The risk of ischemic stroke doubles when you smoke

Ischemic strokes occur when a blood vessel is blocked and blood and oxygen are prevented from getting to your brain or other major organ

Ischemic strokes can kill , but they can also leave you brain damaged or paralyzed (American Stroke Association 2007 The long term effects of smoking can seem far away , but consider these immediate effects

Smoking can prevent you from having children

In men , smoking can reduce sperm production and fertility

Smoking in men can also cause impotence (American Lung Association

In women , smoking can cause increased birth defects , miscarriages and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome after the baby is born

According to the American Lung association , smoking has also been linked with hearing loss and vision problems , including cataracts

One of every five deaths every day is linked to smoking (CDC

Smoking kills 483 , 000 Americans every year

It has been tied to cancers of the mouth , bladder , stomach , cervix and pancreas and to...