The nervous system is one of the most delicate, carefully balanced parts of your body. Most people your age -- including most smokers -- have healthy nervous systems. However, your nervous system is still developing, and therefore it is sensitive to toxic substances, such as those found in cigarette smoke. Smoking now could upset the delicate balance of your nervous system, leading to problems later in life.
Smoking can make several serious diseases of the nervous system worse. It may also increase your risk of developing some of these diseases in the first place. Most of the diseases that we will mention in this chapter are quite rare. However, smoking also worsens a relatively common nervous system disease called multiple sclerosis.
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What does the nervous system do?
Your nervous system consists of your brain, your spinal cord, and the nerves that connect your brain and spinal cord to the rest of your body. Your nervous system is your body's central control system. It's involved in all of your body's functions and in everything that you do. The brain uses information it receives from your nerves to coordinate all of your actions and reactions. Nerves are thin threads of nerve cells called neurons that run throughout your body. Sensory nerves carry messages to the brain and connect to the brain through the spinal cord. Motor nerves carry messages back from the brain to the muscles and glands in the body. When a neuron is stimulated (by heat, cold, sound vibrations, or some other message), it begins to generate a tiny electrical pulse. The stimulation moves along the neuron until it reaches the tip of the neuron, at which point it needs to get to the next neuron and so on until it gets to its final destination. The electrical pulse in the neuron triggers the release of chemicals that carry the pulse to the next neuron.
Why is the nervous system important?
Without the nervous system we couldn't smell, see, hear, think, sleep, laugh, remember, feel pain or pleasure, breath, or do any of the basic bodily functions that we rely on daily.
