Smoking and The Human Body

Smoking is a bad habit which plagues the young, as well as the old. It is the largest source of preventable mortality in North America1. Not only does smoking lead to an early grave, but it can also influence one's daily life. Many studies have revealed links between smoking and reduced endurance capacity2. Nicotine, the addictive agent found in cigarettes, can also be used to control weight gain.

Both of these factors can have considerable effect on the sporting world. There have been many studies done, indicating that if you smoked, you did less physical activity. It has also been shown that the more you smoke, the less activity you do. In one experiment done on smokers and non-smokers, the subjects were tested while running a marathon. The experimenters took a large group of mainly non-smokers and army conscripts and measured their performance. It was found that the distance covered in the race was inversely related to daily cigarette consumption3.

That is, the more you smoked, the less distance you ran. The longer the participant in the race had been smoking, the worse he/she performed. For example, the average non-smoker could cover 2613 meters in 12 minutes, while a smoker of less than 2 years who smoked 21+ cigarettes a day could only cover 2284 meters. A smoker of more than 4 years who smoked 21+ cigarettes a day could only cover 2188 meters4.

These results show how performance decreases the more a person smokes in their lifetime. An experiment performed by Robert C. Klesges et al. found that although smokers did fewer sports, and leisure time activities, they did the same amount of anaerobic activities5. The study also found that smokers had the same energy intake as non-smokers, indicating that eating habits were not a factor in the fitness levels. Smokers average 30-35 kcal per day less of high intensity activity than non-smokers6.

This reduced aerobic physical activity can be attributed to the fact that smoking causes an increase in carboxyhemoglobin which decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, which would cause relative hypoxia in tissues and lead to reduced performance during maximal physical exertion7. Since smoking is so detrimental to the oxygen transport system, it effects endurance capacity more than any other element of fitness such as muscle strength or speed. This must be taken in consideration if an athlete wishe...

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...scripts and 4,100 Joggers," Preventive Medicine v17 (1988), p89. 9 Winders, Suzan E. and Neil E. Grunberg.

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"Effects of nicotine on body weight, food consumption and body composition in male rats," Life Sciences v46 no.21 (1990), pp1528-1529. 11 Klesges, Robert C. et al. "Smoking Status: effects on dietary intake, physical activity, and body fat of adult men," American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition v51 (May 1990), p786. 12 Waldum, Helge L. et al.

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14 "Smoking To Stay Thin--The Body-Image Connection," OPHEA Journal Autumn, 1996, p17. 15 "Smoking To Stay Thin--The Body-Image Connection," OPHEA Journal Autumn, 1996, p17. 16 Waldum, Helge L. et al. "Long-Term Effects of Inhaled Nicotine," Life Sciences v58 no.16 (Mar. 1996), p1346. 5