Why is smoking bad for your lungs? The effects of smoking

Cigarette smoke is toxic. The smoke is made up of tar particles and other chemicals that are poisonous. At least 70 chemicals in cigarette smoke are known to cause cancer.

Cigarettes contain nicotine, which is an addictive chemical found in tobacco. Nicotine by itself is relatively harmless to your health. But because it is so addictive, nicotine can make it very hard to stop smoking.

That’s why stop smoking products (like nicotine replacement therapies, stop smoking medicines and vapes) can help you stop smoking. They give you nicotine in a safer way than smoking.

Most people know smoking can cause lung conditions, heart disease and a wide range of cancers, but it can also damage your whole body. When you stop smoking, you’ll begin to see improvements to your health almost right away.

Table showing a timeline of what happens when you stop smoking

"My body feels better because there aren’t the effects of all those chemicals. Less sludgy might be a good description."
Read Pauline's story about stopping smoking with COPD.

To save money

On average, you could save around £49 a week by stopping smoking. That’s over £2,500 a year. Use NHS Inform’s savings calculator to work out exactly how much money you could save if you stop smoking today.

"I’ve noticed that I’m not only saving money but that I can reinvest it in other places: I'm eating healthier, I've been able to go out to do activities like walking and hiking a little bit more and things like that."
Read Luke's story about stopping smoking with asthma. 

To protect your children, friends, family and other people around you

When you smoke, most of the smoke goes into the air around you. It’s almost impossible to direct smoke away from the people near you. Smoke can linger in rooms for up to 5 hours and spreads quickly from room to room.

When the people around you breathe in this smoke it can damage their health too. This is called second-hand smoke or passive smoking. People who breathe in second-hand smoke can get the same diseases as people who smoke, like lung cancer and heart disease.

Second-hand smoke is especially dangerous: 

• for babies and children – their lungs are still developing, so they’re more likely to get infections 
• if you’re pregnant, because the harmful chemicals can affect your unborn baby 
• if you have a lung condition, because it can cause asthma attacks and lung condition flare-ups.  

Stopping smoking and becoming a smoke-free role model for your children can also help their health in the long-term. Teenagers whose parents or carers smoke are 4 times more likely to smoke.

The best way to protect the people around you is to stop smoking completely. We have support to help you stop.

If you're not ready to stop smoking yet, keep your cigarette smoke away from other people and never smoke indoors or in cars.

"I stopped smoking when I was diagnosed with COPD at 54, and it really wasn’t an easy process at all... My main motivation was wanting to see my son grow up. I wanted to live longer and slow down the progression of my COPD for him." 
Read Pauline's story about stopping smoking with COPD.

To help your lungs work better

Smoking damages your lungs and causes lung conditions. Stopping smoking can protect you from getting lung conditions like:

• asthma
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) 
• lung cancer
• tuberculosis (TB)
• respiratory infections, like COVID-19 and pneumonia.

If you have a lung condition like asthma or COPD

One of the best treatments for lung conditions is to stop smoking. If you have a lung condition, as well as all the other mental and physical health benefits, stopping smoking can:

• improve your lung function, which reduces symptoms like breathlessness, wheezing and coughing 
• help your inhalers work better  
• make you less likely to have an asthma attack or a COPD flare-up (exacerbation), meaning you’re less likely to end up in hospital   
• make you less likely to catch respiratory infections that can trigger your lung condition symptoms    
• reduce your chance of getting lung cancer, or make lung cancer easier to treat 
• stop your COPD from getting worse   
• make you less likely to get other health problems that can make it harder to cope with your lung condition, for example a heart attack or a stroke
• help you live longer. 

"My lungs definitely improved once I stopped smoking. As I felt better about myself, and as I got more educated about my COPD, I got fitter. I started walking more and found good support." 
Read Pauline's story about stopping smoking with COPD. 

To help your mental health

Stopping smoking can boost your mental health and wellbeing.  

When you smoke, nicotine gives you a quick burst of pleasure and makes you feel calm. But when the nicotine leaves your system it can make you anxious and irritable until you smoke again. This creates a cycle which can make you think smoking is helping your stress, but it’s actually causing you more harm over time.

Stopping smoking and breaking this cycle can help you feel happier, calmer and more in control of your life.

"My life has improved all round since I stopped smoking. I feel a whole lot better about myself mentally and physically."
Read Pauline's story about stopping smoking with COPD.

To improve your appearance 

Quitting smoking can help you look healthier. 

Smoking can impact the way you look. It can:   

• make your skin age faster, causing wrinkles and sagging
• stain your teeth, fingers and nails, making them yellow
• reduce the amount of oxygen your skin gets, making it look tired and dull
• cause your hair to thin and fall out
• weaken your hair and nails, making them break easily
• make skin conditions like acne or psoriasis worse.

To help the environment and planet

As well as being bad for your health, smoking is also bad for the environment. Smoking and the tobacco industry are linked with pollution, deforestation, corruption, child labour, and other human rights abuses.

Yes, all smoke is harmful for your lungs. This includes smoking tobacco, shisha, herbal mixes and weed.

Smoking and using tobacco

There’s no safe way to smoke or use tobacco. Tobacco comes in different forms, which are all harmful and addictive. This includes:

• low tar, light, menthol or roll-up cigarettes, including brands which say they're natural or additive-free   
• cigars 
• heated tobacco products 
• pipes 
• smokeless tobacco products, including snuff, naswar, gutkha, khaini, zarda, paan with tobacco and betel quid with tobacco   
• bidis  
• cigarillos.  

Smoking shisha, hookah, water pipe, narghile or hubble bubble

Smoking shisha is not safer or less addictive than smoking cigarettes. It contains high concentrations of the same harmful chemicals as cigarettes and does the same damage to your health.

Sometimes people think smoking shisha is less harmful than smoking because the water filters out harmful chemicals in smoke. This is not true. 

Smoking shisha that contains herbal mixtures instead of tobacco is still bad for your health. This is because it still involves burning charcoal and inhaling smoke.

Smoking weed, cannabis or marijuana

Smoke from weed contains a lot of the same harmful chemicals as tobacco smoke and can cause long-term lung damage.

Find out more about how recreational drugs affect your lungs and lung conditions.