It is TIME to QUIT smoking NOW! Part 3

Health Risks – further elaboration

Emphysema

Cigarette smoking is also the major cause of emphysema -- a disease that slowly destroys a person's ability to breathe. Oxygen gets into the blood by moving across a large surface area in the lungs. Normally, thousands of tiny sacs make up this surface area. With emphysema, the walls between the sacs break down and create larger but fewer sacs. This decreases the lung surface area, which lowers the amount of oxygen reaching the blood. Over time, the lung surface area can become so small that a person with emphysema often must gasp for breath.

Shortness of breath (especially when lying down), a mild cough that doesn't go away (which is often dismissed as "smoker's cough"), feeling tired, and sometimes weight loss are early signs of emphysema. People with emphysema are at risk for many other problems linked to weak lung function, including pneumonia. In later stages of the disease, patients can only breathe comfortably with the help of an oxygen tube under the nose. Emphysema cannot be reversed, but it can be slowed down -- especially if the person stops smoking.

Stroke

A stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain functions due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain. This can be due to ischemia (lack of blood supply) caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage. As a result, the affected area of the brain is unable to function, leading to inability to move one or more limbs on one side of the body, inability to understand or formulate speech or inability to see one side of the visual field.

Next part will be the Question and Answers session.