Free Radical Effects -

Smoking and Free Radicals

Smoking is by far the most dangerous use of an addictive substance. For every lung cancer death caused by smoking, there are three deaths from other smoking related diseases. Smoking is still the largest single cause of premature death. Although large numbers of people have now been able to give up, and smoking has become a divisive social issue, there are still many who seem unable to conquer this addiction. This is not helped by the determination of the tobacco manufacturers to continue to advertise their pernicious wares  that is, to try to persuade as many people as possible to kill themselves.

Smoking wastes money , causes bad breathe, body odor and stained fingers, and systematically damages many of the systems of the body so that, even if the worst doesn't happen, the long-term quality of life is likely to be substantially reduced. Reduced research into the relationship between free radicals and the damaging effect of smoking may, I hope, provide some smokers with better motivation to cease this hazardous practice.