Final answer:
Smoking causes both short-term and long-term health effects. Short-term effects include difficulty breathing and decreased endurance, while long-term effects involve serious diseases like chronic respiratory conditions and various cancers. It also leads to cardiovascular issues such as heart disease and stroke, alongside other health problems like yellowing teeth and infertility.
Step-by-step explanation:
The short-term effects of smoking include breathing difficulty, reduced endurance, increased heart rate, and elevated blood pressure. These immediate responses are due to inhalation of harmful chemicals like carbon monoxide, which binds to hemoglobin and reduces oxygen transport in the blood.
In terms of long-term effects, smoking is a major cause of chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and various forms of cancer, including lung cancer. The chemicals in tobacco smoke damage the alveoli in the lungs, leading to decreased elasticity and reduced lung function. Smoking is also detrimental to the cardiovascular system, increasing the risk of heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and blood clots due to the narrowing and weakening of blood vessels.
Additional adverse health effects of smoking include yellowing of teeth, bad breath, erectile dysfunction, female infertility, and slower wound healing. Overall, smoking significantly contributes to higher morbidity and mortality rates among smokers.