Teens have been smoking less in recent years, which is great. But overall, the use of smokeless tobacco has remained steady for over a decade.

Most people know that smoking and being overweight can harm their physical health. Heart disease risk factors, however, can also impair the ability to think.

Secondhand smoke exposure during childhood may change cholesterol levels in a way that could increase the risk for heart disease later in life. That risk may not be the same for both genders.

Links between smoking and lung cancer have been well established, but what about other types of cancer? In particular, female smokers have shown high rates of colon cancer.

The health community has been striving to lower smoking rates for decades. The good news is that prevention programs have worked, some better than others.

After surgery, the body needs to focus on healing. Smoking may interfere with this healing process. People who smoke after surgery could be putting their bodies at serious risk for complications.

Hookah smoking may seem like a less harmful alternative to cigarettes. But the charcoal brick heating the hookah’s tobacco can expose a person to high levels of harmful chemicals.

Some women find it cool just to hold a cigarette. But smoking them could be tied to pain in those hands and in other joints later on.

A good time to promote oral hygiene may pop up when a person is ready to quit smoking. Tobacco counselors can prompt their patients: out with the smoking, in with the flossing and brushing.

Most people start smoking before they turn 18. Researchers have been trying to pin down when, why and how teens start smoking so they can create ways to stop it from happening.