From Cigarettes to Cancer: Does Smoking Affect Your Liver​?

Tobacco use is responsible for over a quarter of all cancer deaths. Smoking a single cigarette releases more than 4,000 chemicals. Of these, 60 are carcinogens – substances that can lead to cancer. The liver breaks down these chemicals and helps to eliminate them from your body. It plays an important role in mitigating the damage of smoking. However, extended contact with these chemicals can lead to liver cell damage. Eventually, continued regular exposure to these chemicals will leave a detrimental impact on your body’s health.

The health risks of smoking affect not only smokers, but also second-hand smokers (passive smoking) as well. The risk of harm to your health increases based on the length of time spent smoking and the number of cigarettes smoked daily.

The carcinogens in cigarette smoke run the risk of damaging cell DNA. DNA is the “guide” that manages a cell’s normal development and function. When DNA is damaged, there is a risk of cells starting to grow uncontrollably and eventually developing into a tumor.

Smoking significantly increases the risk of developing liver cancer, particularly in people with chronic liver disease. It’s a key trigger for increased inflammation, fat accumulation and liver damage. One way it does so is by activating the liver stellate cells, which form scar tissue in the liver. This significantly increases one’s risk of liver disease progression and liver cancer.

Beyond this, smoking can also suppress the liver’s immune function. By weakening your immune system, smoking makes you more susceptible to infections. You might find yourself falling sick more often or taking more time to recover from illnesses.

While smoking alone does not directly cause liver cancer, it certainly increases your risk. This is especially true for those with other risk factors, including hepatitis B or C infections. Unfortunately, smokers have up to a 60% higher risk of liver cancer than someone who has never smoked.

Those who smoke and drink large amounts of alcohol are also at an increased risk of liver damage. Smoking limits the ability of the liver to regenerate and obstructs the healing from the damage caused by alcohol.

Most of the time, liver disease is asymptomatic, and people remain unaware that they have it. Symptoms only arise once the disease has advanced, which can lead to cancer or liver failure. The best way to avoid harming your liver health is to quit smoking, or ideally, never start in the first place.

Quitting smoking is one of the best ways to avoid developing associated cancers and other smoking-related diseases. If a smoker has liver cancer, quitting smoking can still benefit them and improve their chances of recovery.

Nicotine found in tobacco products is highly addictive and contributes to the strong desire to smoke more. Those who try to quit smoking may find it difficult to manage nicotine withdrawal symptoms without additional help.

While vaping and e-cigarettes are quickly gaining popularity as alternatives to smoking tobacco, these devices still contain similar and potentially harmful substances. Nicotine, acetaldehyde and other toxins may be present, and can contribute to the risk of lung disease, heart disease and certain cancers.

Most are well aware of the negative effects of smoking, but what’s the best way to stop smoking? A variety of support programs are available to help you quit smoking. You can also consider counseling, smoking cessation programs or nicotine replacement therapy to help manage your quitting plan.

Nicotine replacement therapy reduces cravings and withdrawal symptoms by slowly reducing your nicotine intake, rather than a hard stop.

Some options for nicotine replacement therapy include:

• Nicotine patches for your skin
• Nicotine gum
• Nasal spray (e.g. Nicorette QuickMist)
• Nicotine inhalers
• Nicotine sublingual tablets (to be placed under your tongue) and lozenges

Alternative solutions to help you quit smoking include acupuncture, hypnosis or cold laser therapy. However, while anecdotal evidence of their usefulness exists, take note that these options have not been scientifically proven to help people stop smoking.

Smoking has devastating effects on nearly every aspect of your long-term health. Quitting smoking at any stage will lead to improvements in overall health and significantly reduce your risk of cancer and other diseases.