I used to be a heavy smoker this was back in my wild Marine Corps days and long before I knew anything about the human body beyond the location of my head and even that was debatable back in high school I started smoking and consuming cannabis and once I got out of the Marine Corps I happily brought cannabis back into my daily and frankly all day long routine but once I started learning about this skeleton wrapped in soft tissue I was pretty quick to throw out the cigarettes and stop blazing like Cheech and Chong all day every day in today's video with the help of the cadavers here in the lab we're going to discuss the reality of setting something on fire right next to your face and inhaling its smoke deep into your respiratory system this video is going to be fire let's do this quick disclaimer not all smoke is equal let's just take a quick look at cigarettes there are hundreds of different brands of cigarettes and they can have multiple differences between one another such as the amount of tar nicotine ammonia carbon emissions and even the parameters around filter ventilation as well as the filter and cigarette length all of that can have an impact on the smoke and I guess the quality of that smoke that's being inhaled at the end of the day though we have a pretty good understanding about how various chemical compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and benzo pyrene are going to affect the body so while nuances around the different types of smoke definitely exist enough similarities between them also exist which allows us to speak about them more broadly I also want to be clear that this is not an outright indictment of cannabis tobacco yeah tobacco is terrible and horrible for you I'm not going to defend it in any capacity but cannabis on the other hand or more specifically the cannabinoids inside of cannabis have some legitimate medical uses that should not be ignored and we've even made multiple videos in the past that go into some depth when it comes to these medical uses this video is to show you that smoking cannabis or anything for that matter is an objectively terrible idea look is smoking cannabis as bad as smoking cigarettes no it's not but that doesn't make it good for you either and we know this because the research tells us so let's now talk some basic facts about smoke cigarettes typically contain around 600 different ingredients and when burned can produce around 7 000 or so chemicals which includes tar ammonia carbon monoxide and even formaldehyde which is the same chemical used to preserve the cadavers here in this lab cigar smoke can be similar to cigarette smoke in many respects but can also contain higher amounts of certain products like tobacco-specific nitrosamines such as n nitroso nor nicotine which is a potent carcinogen or cancer-causing compound cannabis Smoke on the other hand can be even more variable Studies have shown that the type of cannabis temperature in which it's burned and even how much THC it contains can all affect the levels of carcinogens or precarcinogens in the Smoke however cancer is not likely to be the result of cannabis consumption numerous Studies have looked for a link between cannabis and cancer and the data really seems to be conflicting at best but at this point it really doesn't seem like consuming cannabis increases the risk of cancer so while cannabis smoke does contain carcinogens which are undoubtedly bad for you by the way carcinogens even if they're not causing cancer are going to cause irritation inflammation they can even impair the immune system's function in many cases but the carcinogens in cannabis smoke are not the same as the carcinogens in tobacco smoke in regards to density potency and type still cannabis smoke has been shown to contain tar ammonia carbon monoxide emissions and yes formaldehyde among many other products then when you account for the fact that users typically hold the smoke deep inside of their lungs this can create a higher deposition of tar than even cigarettes in many cases what this means is smoking cannabis is objectively unhealthy in fact anything you smoke and I know this is not going to be all that surprising but say crack cocaine methamphetamine Salvia dimethyltryptamine and many more all of these are going to come with additionally created chemicals during the burning process that can either be carcinogenic or harmful in multiple other ways an easy example of this is particulate matter these are extremely small particles that are a mixture of solids and liquid droplets that can physically Lodge themselves into spaces inside of the respiratory tract causing irritation and inflammation again you are literally lighting something on fire and inhaling the smoke deep into your lungs just because it's a plant and comes from the earth it doesn't mean it's healthy to burn its leaves and Buds and inhale the fiery particles deep inside of your body to help drive this point home let's take a look at some of the anatomy that is affected by smoking real quick I don't think the sponsor today's video fume fume is an Innovative and award-winning device that helps you break bad habits by replacing the bad with good instead of vapor or chemicals fume uses completely all-natural delicious flavors and airflow I was extremely skeptical at first I mean flavored air that sounds crazy but I am extremely impressed with the quality and taste the flavors are refreshing it has a beautiful wood grain design and the weighted feel makes it fun to fidget with I mean this thing was literally designed to be fidgeted with fume also recently released new core packets of flavors which includes orange vanilla sparkling grapefruit and raspberry lemonade fume isn't about going cold turkey it's about making positive changes smoothly and enjoying the process and right now you can save 10 percent on the fume Journey pack when you go to trifum.com ioha that's try f u m.com slash ioha and use the code ioha at checkout you can go ahead and find that link in the description below smoke irritates and reduces blood flow to the gums which can lead to gum recession gum inflammation and gum disease in many cases smoke can also cause Smoker's melanosis which is a brownish black pigment that can form on the gums the Taran nicotine can stain the teeth yellowish Brown over time and tooth decay and Cavities become more likely due to reduced saliva flow and altered oral bacteria smoke can also facilitate the breakdown of periodontal ligaments or the soft tissue that holds the teeth in place this means smoking can lead to teeth loosening and even falling out over time certain smokes can also create what's known as Smoker's tongue which is where the tongue can become dark and pigmented due to material being trapped in the papillae or Surface projections of the tongue smoking can also result in leukoplakia which is where white patches develop on the cheeks gums and tongue and in some cases can even become cancerous the palate or roof of the mouth can become red and irritated due to the passing smoke here on that soft tissue layer that is going to be inside of the mouth multiple types of cancers can arise in the soft tissues of the mouth from certain types of smoke and that includes cancers of the lips the gums the tongue which is this massive structure here and even the oropharynx which is the area of the throat immediately behind the tongue smoke will then pass as it goes through that oropharynx down towards the larynx and that is this structure here which can cause swelling and vocal changes this right here is actually a vocal cord but the smoke can irritate it which can cause a hoarseness of voice then you can even get laryngeal carcinoma which is a cancer of the voice box which again that only happens with certain types of smoke but saliva production which saliva is going to obviously enter into that oral cavity is going to be reduced which can lead to dryness of the throat and even down towards the esophagus the esophagus despite being part of the digestive system can become inflamed and irritated leading to what's known as esophagitis the esophagus is also susceptible to cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma now just in front of it here is the trachea and that's also just below the larynx but the trachea is what's more commonly known as the windpipe and it has an epithelial lining on that inside that can become irritated from the hot passing smoke in chronic smokers can even experience what's known as tracheitis this can increase mucous production so mucus will be secreted into this space and that can lead to phlegm and coughing in a desperate attempt to get it out of the system then if you were able to zoom in on the cells of that epithelial lining you'd see cilia and they can become impaired and normally they help transport mucus out of the respiratory tract but since they're impaired the mucus can build up and bacteria can begin to colonize the trachea smoking increases the risk of peptic ulcers in the stomach and that's what you're looking at here although this is a stomach that we've cut in sagittal plane which allows us to see inside and all of that incredible Anatomy but an ulcer would essentially be a hole that is eating its way through the layers of the stomach but smoke can just also cause an overall inflammation of the stomach which is what we call gastritis now nausea is also a common complaint of many types of smoke inhalation which can result in vomiting which is just a convulsion of the stomach to eject the contents but smoking can also come with an increased risk of stomach cancer although again that comes with only certain types of smoke you are now looking at a right human lung and if we take a look at the midline you're going to be able to see the trachea as it's branching into the bronchial tree now the bronchial tubes will then continue to branch and populate the entirety of the lungs but like the trachea smoke can cause mucus production due to irritation and inflammation in those bronchial tubes and that would then lead to obviously coughing because the lungs are going to be trying to push them out or push that phlegm and mucus out certain types of smoke can even break down the alveolar walls which are small air sacs in the lungs into the side of gas exchange with the cardiovascular system this means gas exchange will become limited making breathing more difficult lung cancers like squamous and small cell carcinomas are common with certain types of smoke and become extremely aggressive in their growth COPD which is an emphysema in chronic bronchitis like hybrid condition can develop making gas exchange and overall airflow through the lungs more difficult white blood cells such as neutrophils and macrophages can become impaired reducing their ability to fight off infections and other harmful substances and the lungs themselves can become scarred due to all the inflammation which again can reduce the function of the lungs quite dramatically smoking can also have an effect on the heart rate typically increasing it but it also can decrease it depending on the context but that can also mean that blood pressure is going to be affected from the heart's perspective now we'll see blood pressure can also be affected from the blood vessels themselves but obviously if you're affecting heart rate you are going to be affecting blood pressure in that sense as well but that means you can create cardiovascular risk throughout the entire cardiovascular system just by having an effect on the heart coronary artery disease which we can see the coronary arteries right here so the coronary arteries Branch off of the aorta and they deliver blood to the heart muscle itself but if they get blocked that means the heart is now potentially susceptible to heart attacks so smoking can increase your risk of heart attack blood vessels throughout the body can stiffen increasing the likelihood of blood clots the carbon monoxide in Smoke binds to hemoglobin preferentially over oxygen meaning the already struggling Airway is now struggling to get the oxygen to the red blood cells and make it to the lungs I know that sounds like a lot and that's because it is but the thing is it's still nowhere near all the potential issues that can arise from smoke inhalation look smoking's bad for you regardless of the source of that smoke I know The Narrative of this video has primarily focused on Tobacco and cannabis that's simply because those are two products that a lot of people I guess most people who do smoke something can relate to and understand but any and all smoke is going to be harmful for you to some degree now sure some smoke is going to be worse for you than others but can we just all admit to ourselves and the World At Large that the human respiratory system evolved to breathe air and only thanks for watching everyone be sure to click the link in the description below and save 10 on a fume Journey pack today if you enjoyed today's video please consider giving it a like YouTube rewards videos that are well liked so smashing that like button I said like way too much in that sentence but smashing that like button is an easy way to support our Channel and help this video get in front of more eyes but again thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video [Music] thank you [Music]