Smoking causes respiratory problems, difficulties with the circulatory system and urinary disorders, reinforcing the fact that smoking causes inexorable damage to the body. While smoking may seem like something “nice,” it causes several health problems, many of which have ongoing effects. Contrary to what tobacco companies would have you believe, smoking causes damage to your health. Smoking mainly causes damage to the respiratory system. , which affects the lungs. Smoke reaches the lungs directly, exposing them to multiple pollutants. Pollutants cause lung damage, resulting in shortness of breath. Smoking can also cause lung cancer by impairing the ability of the lungs to function, as well as hampering the cilia and bronchi, systems that help defend the lungs from disease. Lung cancer develops due to the destruction of the cilia, hair-like structures that move mucus from the lungs, and the bronchi, tubular structures that carry inhaled air to the lung tissues. Once damage to the cilia and bronchi occurs, the lungs can no longer clean themselves, which is why the toxic substances contained in cigarettes remain contained in the lungs. For this reason cancer continually develops. In addition to causing damage to the respiratory system, smoking also causes damage to the circulatory system, organs such as the heart and arteries. Heart attacks occur more often in smokers than in nonsmokers. According to the American Council on Science and Health, smoking kills more than 400,000 Americans each year. The effects of cigarette smoking occur when someone smokes like a chimney. Smoking instantly affects a smoker's blood pressure. Smoking causes short-term effects on blood pressure, but as time passes and a person smokes more and more, this short-term effect will gradually evolve into a long-lasting effect. Cigarette smoking not only affects blood pressure, but also affects the arteries that pump blood to the heart. Effects on the arteries cause heart disease. In addition to affecting the circulatory system, smoking also affects the urinary system, such as the kidneys and bladder. Smoking increases the chance of developing bladder and kidney cancer. Smoking causes the leading preventable disease in the United States, bladder cancer. Each year “over 7,000 Americans die from bladder cancer”1 caused by smoking. Smoking causes toxins to flow into the bloodstream.