Oxidative Stress 1

Despite the efforts taken by government organizations to curb smoking in public and showcasing the harmful effects of smoking you still come across a whole bunch of people who continue to smoke.

If you happen to ask a smoker why does he/she smokes the reply will definitely be one of these, ‘I’m stressed and smoking relieves stress for me’, ‘Smoking helps me think’, ‘It’s kind of cool and stylish’ or ‘I’m unable to leave it (addicted in short)’. One may think that smokers are not aware of what it may lead to. But that’s not what really happens. Most smokers are aware that it is injurious to their health and may lead to cancer.

Whether it is started for fun or out of stress, one should always know that nicotine is additive and you might not be able to get rid of it when you want to. Smoking causes a number of health related risks, including liver failure. Here are some health problems caused by smoking to liver.

Oxidative Stress

The chemicals from cigarette which eventually reaches the liver create oxidative stress which means that the liver cells do not get enough oxygen supply. This is because the red blood cells which do this oxygen supply work start losing their capacity to deliver oxygen to the liver.

As a result, the liver cells begin to die. Oxidative stress ages all organs of the body by releasing free radicals which cause great harm to the body. It is as good as scaring the good tissues of the body.

Liver Failure

Liver failure is the continuation of oxidative stress. When one does not stop smoking even after the onset of oxidative stress, then the health of the organ (liver) gets depleted and eventually reaches a stage when the organ fails to perform any of its functions.

The body becomes a toxic substance and the only way for recovery is a liver transplant, which is a high risk procedure to replace damaged liver with a healthy one from a donor. However, even if this procedure ends up successfully, the patient is expected to quit smoking to live longer.

Liver Cancer

It is common knowledge that smoking leads to lung cancer. But with smoking, the chances of getting liver cancer are high and this is not something that commercials mention. It is widely accepted through research that smoking leads to almost a quarter of the liver cancers in the world. Because of the harmful chemicals in cigarettes the liver gets damaged as explained in the process above and fails to pump out the toxins in the body. This results in liver diseases and liver failure. People with liver disease who continuously abuse smoking worsen the situation leading to death of more liver cells and multiplication of tumors leading to liver cancer.

Hemochromatosis

This is a rare disease where a metal like iron or some other metals present in the powder form in cigarette deposits in the liver. This causes scars in liver that is irreparable and eventually lead to other liver diseases.

Most often such iron deposits and diseases thereof would require a liver transplant.

Smoking though might not seem to be affecting liver, sure does have a deeper connection with the liver and its functions leading to serious diseases. It is always better to be afar from nicotine to lead a disease free happy life.

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