It increases the risk of miscarriage, low birth weight complications during pregnancy, and the likelihood of health problems during infancy. As if all that were not enough, smoking decreases the resistance of the nose, sinuses, and lungs to infections. This is especially true with little children who live in a smoker's household. Tobacco is the most preventable cause of death. This number equals the number of people who were killed in seconds at Hiroshima.
Smoking is a form of drug addiction because tobacco contains nicotine, an addictive drug.
This means that a smoker goes through physical and psychological drug-withdrawal effects when trying to quit. These may include intense food cravings, jittery nerves, anxiety, short temper, depression and sleeplessness. Some people smoke because they think it will help them appear more important, fashionable or glamorous. Others use it as a crutch to overcome self-consciousness in social situations. Fortunately, the last decade has seen these attitudes change as people become better educated and more sophisticated about health.