Does smoking harm the kidneys?

Although everyone knows the dangers of smoking, it is still difficult for many people to quit smoking. Especially for those who are under great work pressure or often stay up late, they are very likely to smoke on a daily basis. So, does smoking damage your kidneys? In fact, smoking is very harmful to our health, but the harm it causes to the kidneys is far less than that to the brain, blood vessels, throat and heart.

Smoking refers to the act of inhaling the gases produced by burning tobacco into the body through the mouth. It is an unhealthy lifestyle habit.

Dangers of smoking

Brain

Smoking can cause a variety of brain diseases, reduce the oxygen and blood circulation in the brain, cause bleeding and blockage of brain blood vessels, and lead to paralysis, mental decline and stroke. The cause of stroke is that smoking causes spasm of blood vessels in the brain, making the blood more likely to clot. Smokers are twice as likely to have a stroke as non-smokers.

Throat

Smoking can cause throat cancer. Most laryngeal cancer patients are male. Otolaryngologists have found that most smokers have hoarse throats. This may be related to the tar in the smoke.

Heart and blood vessels

Studies have found that smoking increases the stickiness of platelets in the blood, which makes the blood easier to coagulate and thus easily forms blood clots in the coronary arteries. At the same time, smoking also increases the low-density cholesterol in the blood, which makes it easy for fatty substances to deposit in blood vessels and form coronary atherosclerosis. If the coronary artery becomes hardened, its inner lumen will become narrower. Once the blood coagulates inside, the artery will be blocked. At this time, oxygen cannot be delivered to that part of the heart muscle, and the myocardial cells will fail and die due to lack of oxygen. This is myocardial infarction. Local myocardial infarction can cause angina pectoris, while large-scale myocardial infarction can cause shock or death due to sudden cessation of heart beating. This is acute myocardial infarction. Smoking causes blood vessels to constrict, slowing down blood and oxygen circulation, eventually leading to thickening of blood vessel walls and inducing coronary heart disease and stroke. Smoking can completely block blood flow to the hands and feet, leading to amputation.

Doctors' advice to smokers is: If you have high blood pressure, high blood lipids, heart disease or a family history of heart disease, you should stop smoking immediately, because smoking will increase your risk of myocardial infarction dozens of times. Smoking causes 25% of all heart disease deaths. The prevalence rate is twice as high among smokers over 50 years old. The prevalence rate among smokers under 50 years old is 9 to 14 times higher.