5 Of The Weirdest Reasons To Quit Smoking Today

If you’re a smoker, chances are you’ve heard your fair share of arguments for quitting. As smoking has become less and less acceptable, there’s always someone quick to tell you that smoking is a “dirty habit” and that you’re killing yourself one cancer stick at a time. You probably know that (most smokers actually want to quit!) but the aggressive tack isn’t going to fill you with the desire to bin the smokes. So how about some weird and wonderful reasons to quit that you’ve either never heard before or would never have dreamed of? Well, that’s what we have for you here. Enjoy (although all of them are a little scary):

1. Smoking Causes Droopy Boobs

It might seem odd that people would do research into the field of boob sagginess, but they have done. Among the most common causes are, perhaps obviously, being overweight, having larger breasts, having children, and, more surprisingly, smoking. The scientific term for drooping of the breasts is ptosis and it is exacerbated by cigarette smoking which “breaks down a protein in the skin called elastin, which gives youthful skin its elastic appearance and supports the breast”.

2. Think of the Animals and Opt for the Electronic Cigarette

If you think it's fine to smoke around your pets then you're plain wrong. Animals are susceptible to cancers and respiratory diseases, just like us, and recent studies have concluded that tobacco and secondhand smoke will affect their health. For example: cats will lick up cancer-causing carcinogens from their fur when they groom themselves; dogs have higher rates of nasal tumours if they inhale secondhand smoke; and birds can develop skin diseases and breathing difficulties. The upshot - don't let pets breathe in your smoke or let them ingest any cigarette butts. A safer way to get a nicotine hit and spare your pets the secondhand smoke is to use an e-cigarette which emits a vapour rather than smoke.

3. Your Poor...Ears?

It’s safe to assume that you know smoking shortens your overall lifespan, but did you know it also shortens that of your ears? According to a study of more than 3,000 people, smokers were almost 70% more likely to suffer hearing loss. The Journal of the American Medical Association, who conducted the research, also found that passive smoking could contribute to hearing loss. However, another study found there was no link between hearing degradation and smoking - so the jury’s still out.

4. A Poorly Functioning......Manhood

You've probably heard that smoking can cause impotence; it's true. On the webmd site, it states that a 'study of nearly 5,000 Chinese men showed that men who smoked more than a pack a day were 60% more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction, compared with men who never smoked cigarettes.' If that's not enough to scare the ciggie out of your mouth - men who quit smoking have thicker, more rigid erections according to other research.

5. It Causes some Epic Heartburn

According to the journal Gut, the BMJ’s peer-reviewed journal, people who smoke for more than 20 years are 70% more likely to suffer from acid reflux. Around 1 in 5 people suffer from heartburn or acid reflux, which is known by doctors as gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD.

The findings were based on two major public health surveys conducted in Norway in the 1980s and 1990s. Over 3,100 people who suffered from heartburn and 40,000 people without symptoms answered questions about lifestyle factors including diet, exercise, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use.