Smoking rates are declining among adults. A National Health Interview Survey revealed that adult cigarette smoking rates dipped below 10% in 2024. This is significant, since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that adult smoking rates in 1979 were 33.5%. While most adults now recognize the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, younger adults, teenagers, and about 9% of adult smokers should know what smoking does to our bodies.  

Eyes:

Smoking can contribute to macular degeneration, cataracts, and vision loss. The American Academy of Ophthalmology notes that macular degeneration is a retinal disease that causes loss of central vision. The Mayo Clinic says cataracts cause cloudy areas to form in the normally clear lens of the eye. While cataracts are treatable, surgery is the only proven way to remove them.

Brain:

Smoking can adversely affect smokers’ mental health, increasing their risk of anxiety and depression. A 2023 study published in the journal JAMA Network Open found that individuals with anxiety and depression were more likely to be smokers than those without those symptoms. Some people even smoke to alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression, as nicotine temporarily increases levels of mood-enhancing hormones dopamine and serotonin. However, nicotine’s effect is fleeting, and some people end up smoking more, increasing their dependency, in order to alleviate the sadness and tension that can come with anxiety and depression.

Oral health/sensitivity:

The Cleveland Clinic says smoking may reduce the sense of taste and smell. Smoking also stains teeth because nicotine in cigarettes burns and combines with oxygen to form a yellowish substance that can cling to the teeth. Smoking can also contribute to gum disease by weakening the body’s immune system and making it harder to fight gum infections. These infections may develop because smoking decreases saliva, making it easier for infection-causing bacteria to adhere to the teeth and get under the gums. The CDC notes that once gums are damaged, smoking also makes it harder for them to heal.

Heart:

Smoking can adversely affect heart health by increasing a smoker’s risk of blood clots, heart attack, and stroke. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes that when smokers inhale cigarette smoke, the blood delivered to the rest of the body is contaminated with chemicals that can damage the heart and blood vessels. As a result, a smoker’s risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and stroke, increases. Those same chemicals can also thicken blood in the arteries, making it harder for blood cells to reach the heart and brain, and increasing the likelihood that blood will clot.

Skin:

Even the body’s largest organ is not immune to the ill effects of smoking. According to Healthline, tobacco toxins decrease blood flow to skin cells, reducing moisture and breaking down the proteins collagen and elastin. When that breakdown occurs, it results in wrinkled skin.

Smoking affects the body in countless ways. Recognition of those effects may be just what people need to keep smoking rates declining in the decades ahead.