There are still many people around the world that smoke, even though there are many negative effects of smoking. For years studies have linked smoking to lung cancer, heart attack, and stroke, among many other chronic health conditions. Studies also show that smoking can cause your teeth and fingers to turn yellow, and it can cause smokers to develop a smoker’s cough (or COPD).

There are many negative side effects to smoking yet these remain some of the most overlooked reasons that people should stop smoking:

1. Cognitive decline and dementia
Recent studies have shown that smoking can cause cerebrovascular disease, which can later result in dementia and cognitive decline. When people smoke their arteries harden because of the excess stress put on their bodies. When arteries harden their risk of having a stroke or even a mini-stroke significantly increases. These mini-strokes can severely affect your cognitive decline. To help prevent this from happening it is crucial that all smokers try to stop and join smoking cessation programs.

2. Development of autoimmune disorders
Autoimmune disorders are severe and the risk of developing these disorders can significantly increase when people smoke. One of the main disorders that smokers are at risk of developing is lupus. This disease affects your blood vessels which are already weakened if you smoke. If you are already at risk of developing autoimmune disorders based on family history smoking will only increase the risk.

3. Increased risk of SIDs in babies
If you smoke you are putting your baby at an increased risk of dying from SIDs. SIDs are the leading cause of death among healthy babies and secondhand smoke increases the risk of this. When pregnant women smoke or are around people who smoke the baby is exposed to the smoke. It is crucial that all pregnant women stay away from smoke and if they themselves are smokers they need to use anything they can, like nicotine gum or nicotine lozenges, to try and stop smoking.

4. Risk of colic in babies
The smoke has been known to increase the level of motilin in blood and intestines. The increase of this hormone causes contractions and can result in colic for infants. Research has shown a positive correlation between smoking and colic in babies.

5. Arthritis
The longer a person smokes the higher their risk of developing arthritis is. While the exact cause of this is unknown many experts believe that it may be because those who smoke have worse immune systems and this can increase the risk of developing arthritis late in life.

6. Sleep apnea and snoring
Smoking has been shown to increase the risk of developing sleep apnea and makes smokers more prone to snoring. When people smoke the smoke destroys the muscles in the airways and causes an increase in mucus in these airways. This inhibits breathing during sleep and can cause snoring and sleep apnea.

7. Acid reflux
When people smoke they inhale nicotine and this nicotine causes the sphincter in the esophagus to relax. When this muscle relaxes it allows food to pass back up through the esophagus. This causes acid reflux.