able than nonsmokers to move the mucus out of their respiratory system. This happens because cigarette smoking paralyzes and eventually destroys cilia. It also changes the makeup of the mucus-secreting glands and consequently the mucus itself. In addition, mucus glands sometimes become plugged and less able to produce mucus. The end result is that smokers' mucus, contaminated with potentially harmful substances, is more likely to become trapped in the lung tissue. (Sherman 355) Smoking impairs lung growth and lung tissue in children and adolescents. Another type of lung-growth impairment occurs in smokers’ aged 20 to 40. During this stage of life, the lungs undergo a type of growth called the plateau phase. This phase is shortened in smokers, which shortens the time with which tobacco- induced diseases develop. Smokers who take up smoking at younger ages are more apt to suffer smoking-related disease after shorter periods of time than are smokers who begin smoking later in life. (Peterson 215-218)Twenty percent of people who smoke get heart disease. Smokers in there thirties and forties have a heart-attack rate that is five times higher than their nonsmoking peers. Smoking lowers HDL levels (also called good cholesterol), causes deterioration of elastic properties in the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body, and increases the risk for blood clots. Smoking also increases the activity the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates the heart and blood vessels. The more a person smokes the higher the chance of developing coronary heart disease and experiencing a heart attack. (Davis) In women who smoke the risk for a heart attack is about 50% greater than in male smokers; researchers speculate that tobacco smoke may increase cardiovascular disease in women through an effect on hormones that causes estrogen deficiency. Quitting will rapidly decrease the risk of developing heart disease, but long-term smoking may still perman...
