How Do Cigarettes Affect Teenagers
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Teenage years are a time when the brain is still being built. Between the ages of about thirteen and nineteen, the brain is rewiring itself at a remarkable speed: the parts that handle planning, judgement and self-control are still maturing, the parts that handle reward and excitement are working at full strength, and the connections that carry memory and learning are being strengthened every day. It is a period of extraordinary growth, and it is also a period of unusual vulnerability. What happens to the brain during these years shapes how it works for the rest of a person’s life, and that is why cigarettes are particularly harmful to teenagers. A cigarette does not only damage the lungs of a young person. It interferes with a brain that is still under construction, and it does so at exactly the moment when that brain is most open to change.
This article explains, in plain words, how cigarettes affect teenagers: how nicotine changes the developing brain, why schoolwork and concentration suffer, how mood and friendships are affected, why teenagers become addicted more quickly than adults, and what can help a young person who wants to stop. This piece gives broad background for learning, not personal guidance for any one reader’s situation. Teenagers who smoke, and parents who are concerned about a young smoker in the family, will get the most useful help by speaking with a trained doctor or nurse.
The Teenage Brain Is Still Being Built
To understand why cigarettes are so harmful to teenagers, it helps to understand what is happening inside a teenage brain. The brain does not finish developing in childhood. It keeps changing through the teenage years and into the early twenties, and the last part to finish is the front of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, which handles planning, weighing consequences, resisting impulses, and thinking ahead. That part is still maturing when a teenager is sixteen or seventeen, which is why teenagers can be brilliant at learning new things and, at the same time, poor at judging long-term risk. It is not a flaw. It is simply how the brain develops, and it is normal.
At the same time, the reward system of the teenage brain is highly sensitive. This is the part that responds to pleasure, excitement and social approval, and in teenagers it responds more strongly than it does in adults. That is why teenagers feel the thrill of a new experience so intensely, and why the approval of friends matters so much to them. It is also why nicotine is so powerful for them. When nicotine reaches a teenage brain, it triggers a strong release of dopamine, the chemical linked with reward and pleasure, and the teenage brain, which is already tuned to reward, learns that lesson very quickly. The link between the cigarette and the good feeling is formed faster, and it is held more tightly, than it would be in an adult brain.
The third part of the picture is that the teenage brain is still forming the connections that carry learning and memory. Every time a teenager studies, practises a skill, or has a new experience, the brain strengthens the connections involved, and prunes away the ones that are not used. Nicotine interferes with that process. It changes how those connections form, and it makes the brain more likely to remember the cigarette and less able to focus on other things. A brain that is still being built is a brain that is still open to being shaped, and nicotine shapes it in the wrong direction, towards dependence and away from clear thinking.
How Nicotine Takes Hold So Quickly
Most adult smokers started as teenagers, and that is not a coincidence. Teenagers become addicted to nicotine faster than adults do, and they become addicted at lower levels of use. An adult might smoke for months before feeling dependent. A teenager can feel dependent after weeks, sometimes after only a handful of cigarettes. The reason is the developing brain described above: it learns the reward of nicotine faster, it adapts to nicotine faster, and it misses nicotine more sharply when it wears off. A teenager who smokes only at weekends, or only with friends, can already be on the road to daily smoking, because the brain has started to expect the nicotine and to feel flat without it.
The pattern is often the same. A teenager tries a cigarette out of curiosity, or because friends are smoking, or because they want to look grown up. The first cigarette often feels unpleasant: the smoke burns the throat, the taste is harsh, and the head spins. But the nicotine still reaches the brain, and the brain still records the reward. The next time, the unpleasantness is less, and the reward is clearer. Within a few weeks, the teenager is smoking not because they enjoy it, but because they feel restless and irritable without it, and a cigarette brings them back to normal for a short time. That is addiction, and it has arrived before the teenager has had time to understand what is happening.
This is why the idea of smoking only occasionally, or only socially, is so dangerous for teenagers. The brain does not wait for a person to become a heavy daily smoker before it adapts. It adapts from the first few cigarettes, and each cigarette strengthens the link a little more. By the time a teenager realises they cannot easily stop, the habit is already established, and the daily routine of smoking, after school, with friends, during a break, has become part of their life. Stopping then means breaking both the chemical dependence and the habit, and that is a much harder task than never starting at all.
School, Concentration and Memory
One of the first places the harm shows up is at school. Teenagers who smoke tend to find it harder to concentrate in class, harder to remember what they have studied, and harder to stay motivated for homework and exams. The reasons are several, and they add up. Nicotine creates a cycle of highs and lows: after a cigarette, the brain feels alert for a short time, but as the nicotine wears off, concentration drops below normal, and the teenager feels restless, distracted and unable to focus. A lesson that lasts an hour is a long time for a brain that is waiting for its next cigarette, and the mind wanders, the notes are missed, and the understanding is lost.
Sleep is affected too, and sleep matters enormously for learning. Nicotine is a stimulant, and smoking late in the day can make it harder to fall asleep and harder to stay asleep. A teenager who is tired in class cannot learn properly, no matter how good the teacher is, and a teenager who is tired is also more likely to feel irritable and low in mood, which makes school feel even harder. The memory problems add to this: the brain forms and stores memories during sleep, and poor sleep means poor memory. A teenager who smoked the evening before an exam may have studied hard, but the brain has not had a proper chance to store what was learned, and the exam results suffer.
Over time, the pattern becomes a cycle. Poor concentration leads to poor grades. Poor grades lead to frustration and a loss of confidence. Frustration leads to more smoking, because the cigarette feels like the one thing that helps, even though it is part of the cause. Teachers and parents may see a teenager who seems lazy or uninterested, when the real story is a brain that is struggling to focus because of nicotine, tiredness and the constant pull of craving. That is a misunderstanding that harms the teenager twice: once from the smoking, and once from being blamed for something they do not fully understand.
Mood, Stress and Feeling Low
Plenty of young smokers describe lighting up as their way of handling pressure, and for a few minutes the smoke can seem to settle their nerves. That settled feeling fades fast, though, and the habit quietly charges a heavy cost for it. What the cigarette really does is quiet the edgy, restless feeling that appears as nicotine leaves the body, so it can be mistaken for real relief; the original worry, exam pressure or argument that caused the stress has not gone anywhere, and going round and round between craving and lighting up keeps the nervous system on edge from morning to night, raising the total amount of worry a teenager carries. Across several weeks and months, young smokers generally describe more tension, more worry and more frequent low spells than their non-smoking classmates, even while every single cigarette still seems to help at the time they smoke it. The habit that promises calm delivers the opposite over time.
The teenage years are already a time of strong emotions. Friendships shift, school pressure grows, family expectations weigh heavily, and the body is changing fast. Adding nicotine to that mix makes the emotions harder to manage. A teenager who smokes may find that small problems feel bigger, that they are quicker to anger, and that they feel low more often. They may also find that they rely on cigarettes to handle every difficult feeling, so they never learn other ways of coping: talking to a friend, going for a walk, taking time to calm down. The cigarette becomes the only tool they have for managing stress, and that leaves them with fewer options when life gets hard.
There is also a link with depression that parents should know about. Teenagers who smoke are more likely to develop symptoms of depression over time, and teenagers who already feel low are more likely to start smoking, because the cigarette promises relief. The relationship runs in both directions, and it can become a trap: feeling low leads to smoking, smoking makes the low mood worse, and the worse mood leads to more smoking. Breaking that cycle needs support, not blame, and a teenager caught in it deserves help from a health professional, a trusted adult, or a school counsellor, not a lecture about willpower.
Friendships, Pressure and Fitting In
For most teenagers, the first cigarette comes from a friend. Smoking is a social habit for young people, and the pressure to fit in is powerful at an age when belonging matters more than almost anything else. A teenager who is offered a cigarette by friends faces a difficult choice: refuse, and risk being seen as different or boring, or accept, and risk starting a habit that will be hard to stop. Many teenagers accept, not because they want to smoke, but because they do not want to be left out, and that single decision can shape the next ten years of their life.
Once a teenager starts smoking, their friendships often shift around the habit. They spend more time with other smokers, because that is where smoking is normal, and less time with friends who do not smoke. The smoking group becomes their main group, and the habit becomes part of their identity: the person who smokes at break time, the person who always has a cigarette after school. That identity is hard to leave behind, because leaving the habit can feel like leaving the group. A teenager who wants to quit may worry that their friends will mock them, or that they will have nothing in common any more, and that fear is real and should be taken seriously.
The good news is that friendships can survive quitting, and many teenagers find that their friends respect the decision more than they expected. It also helps to remember that smoking is far less common among teenagers than it used to be, and that most teenagers do not smoke. The idea that everyone is doing it is simply not true, and a teenager who refuses a cigarette is joining the majority, not standing apart from it. Parents and teachers can help by making that clear, and by giving teenagers the words to refuse without embarrassment: a simple no, a joke, a change of subject. The pressure is real, but it is not unbeatable, and a teenager who has a plan for saying no is far more likely to succeed.
The Body Pays a Price Too
The brain is not the only part of a teenager that smoking harms. The lungs are still growing during the teenage years, and smoking slows that growth. A teenager who smokes is less able to run, to play sport, to climb stairs without getting out of breath, and that loss of fitness matters at an age when sport and physical activity are central to health and to friendship. The airways become irritated, the cough starts, and chest infections become more frequent. A teenager who catches every cold that goes around, and who takes weeks to shake off a cough, is not unlucky. Their lungs are being damaged while they are still supposed to be growing.
The heart is affected as well. Smoking raises the heart rate and the blood pressure, and it narrows the blood vessels, so the heart has to work harder to do the same job. For a young person, that may not feel like a problem, because the heart is strong and the damage is still small. But the damage accumulates, and a teenager who smokes is laying the groundwork for heart disease in later life. The skin is affected too: smoking reduces blood flow to the skin, which makes it look duller and heal more slowly, and it can make acne worse. For a teenager who cares about how they look, and most do, that is a real cost, and it is one that shows up far sooner than the diseases that come decades later.
There is also the simple matter of money. A teenager who smokes even a few cigarettes a day is spending money that could have gone to something they actually enjoy: clothes, music, food with friends, a phone, a trip. Over a year, that money adds up to a large amount, and over the years of secondary school, it adds up to more than most teenagers realise. The money is gone, the health is damaged, and the habit is harder to stop with every month that passes. It is a poor bargain, and it is one that teenagers are rarely given the chance to think through properly before they start.
Why Quitting Is Harder for Teenagers, and Why It Is Worth It
Quitting is hard for anyone, and it is particularly hard for teenagers, for the same reasons that starting is so easy for them. The developing brain that learns the reward of nicotine so quickly also misses it more sharply when it stops. The cravings can feel intense, the irritability can be strong, and the concentration problems in the first week can make school feel impossible. A teenager who tries to quit may find that they cannot focus in class, that they snap at friends and family, and that they feel low and restless for days. Those rough days do not mean giving up is damaging the teenager. They mean the brain is slowly practising how to manage attention, mood and sleep with no nicotine in the system, and that practice cannot be rushed.
The social side makes it harder still. A teenager who quits while their friends keep smoking is surrounded by triggers every day: the break-time group, the walk home, the friend who offers a cigarette without thinking. Resisting that, day after day, takes real strength, and it is easier with support. A teenager who wants to quit should not have to do it alone. Talking to a parent, a teacher, a school nurse, or a doctor can help, because there are support services designed for young people, and using them makes quitting far more likely to succeed. There is no shame in asking for help. The support is there because quitting is hard, not because the person is weak.
The benefits of quitting arrive quickly, and they matter to teenagers in ways that health warnings about the distant future do not. Within days, breathing feels easier and food tastes better. Within weeks, concentration improves, sleep improves, and the cough eases. Within months, fitness returns, and a teenager who quit can run further and play sport better than they could while smoking. The money saved is visible every week. The sense of control, of having beaten something hard, is real and lasting. And the longer a teenager stays smoke-free, the more their brain recovers, because the brain is still developing, and it is still able to repair itself. Quitting as a teenager is one of the best decisions a young person can make, and the benefits will last for the rest of their life.
What Parents and Teachers Can Do
Parents are often the first to notice that something has changed, and they are also the people best placed to help, if they approach the subject in the right way. The signs to look for are not only the smell of smoke on clothes or the sight of a cigarette. They are the changes in behaviour: falling grades, poor concentration, tiredness in the morning, irritability, loss of interest in school or sport, and a new group of friends who smoke. Any one of these could have another cause, and a parent should not jump to conclusions from a single sign. But when several of them appear together, and when they appear over weeks rather than days, it is worth asking, calmly and without accusation, whether smoking might be part of the story.
The conversation matters more than the conclusion. A teenager who feels accused will stop listening, and will smoke in secret instead of smoking less. A teenager who feels listened to is far more likely to be honest. The most useful thing a parent can do is to ask open questions, to listen to the answers without interrupting, and to share what they have learned about how smoking affects the teenage brain, in plain words, without exaggeration. It helps to be honest about your own experience, if you smoked, and about what you wish you had known. It helps to offer help, and to mean it, by finding out about the support services available for young people and offering to go with the teenager to the first appointment. The goal is not to win an argument. It is to make quitting feel possible, and to make the teenager feel supported rather than judged.
Teachers and schools have a part to play as well. A teacher who notices a change in a student, in concentration, in grades, in mood, is in a good position to raise it gently, and to point the student towards the school nurse or counsellor. Schools that talk openly about smoking, that give students the facts in plain words, and that give them practical ways to refuse a cigarette without embarrassment, do more good than schools that rely on warnings and punishment alone. The facts matter: that most teenagers do not smoke, that nicotine affects the developing brain, that quitting is possible and that support is available. But the facts only work if they are delivered with respect, and if the student feels that the adults around them are on their side, not against them.
It is also important for adults to remember that teenagers are watching what adults do, far more than they are listening to what adults say. A parent who smokes while telling their teenager not to smoke is sending a mixed message, and teenagers are very good at spotting mixed messages. The most powerful thing a parent can do for their teenager’s health is to quit themselves, because it shows them that quitting is possible, and it removes the smoke from their home at the same time. If you cannot quit yet, at least smoke outside, away from your children, and talk to them honestly about why smoking is hard to stop. That honesty will do more good than a lecture ever could, because it treats the teenager as a person who can understand, rather than as a problem to be solved.
My Take:
I will be honest about what worries me most here. It is not the lung disease that may come in thirty years, although that is real enough. It is the damage being done right now, to a brain that is still being built, by a habit that a teenager did not fully understand when they started. A sixteen-year-old who cannot concentrate in class, who feels low and irritable, who is falling behind at school and does not know why, is paying a price today, not in some distant future. That price is invisible to most adults, because it looks like laziness or a bad attitude, when the real story is a developing brain struggling with nicotine, poor sleep and constant craving. I think that misunderstanding is one of the saddest parts of this whole subject, because it means teenagers are blamed for a problem they did not create and do not know how to fix.
I do not think teenagers who smoke are foolish, and I do not think they are weak. Most of them started because a friend offered them a cigarette, or because they wanted to fit in, or because they were curious, and at that age, those are normal reasons. The brain of a teenager is wired to care deeply about belonging, and to feel reward intensely, and nicotine exploits both of those things. The companies that sell cigarettes know this, and they have spent decades designing products and marketing that appeal to young people, even when they claim otherwise. Blaming a teenager for being addicted is like blaming a child for trusting an adult who lied to them. The addiction is not a character flaw. It is a trap, and it was set deliberately, and it was set for young people above all.
The school part is the one I would put first if I were talking to a parent. If your teenager’s grades are falling, if they cannot concentrate, if they have lost interest in school, do not start with a lecture about effort. Start by asking what is going on, and consider whether smoking might be part of it. A teenager who is tired because nicotine is disturbing their sleep, who cannot focus because their brain is waiting for the next cigarette, who feels low because the cycle of craving and relief is wearing them down, is not going to improve by being told to try harder. They need help to break the cycle, and that help starts with understanding, not with punishment. I think many parents would be surprised by how much changes when a teenager stops smoking: the concentration comes back, the sleep improves, the mood lifts, and the grades follow. The school problem and the smoking problem are often the same problem, and solving one helps solve the other.
I also think about the friendships, because they matter so much at this age, and because they make quitting so hard. A teenager who wants to quit is not just giving up a cigarette. They are risking their place in their group, and that is a frightening thing at sixteen. I think adults forget how much that matters, because we have other groups, other identities, other places to belong. A teenager has school and their friends, and that is almost everything. So if a teenager tells you they want to quit, take that seriously, and help them think through the social side, not just the chemical side. Who will they spend break time with? What will they say when someone offers them a cigarette? Who in their group might quit with them? These are practical questions, and they matter as much as any advice about cravings. A teenager with a plan for the social side is far more likely to succeed than one who is told simply to stop.
The money is worth mentioning too, because it is concrete and teenagers understand it. A teenager who smokes even a few cigarettes a day is spending money that could have gone to something they actually enjoy, and over a year that money adds up to a large amount. I think it helps to work out the number together, calmly, without judgement, because most teenagers are shocked by it. That money could have been clothes, music, food with friends, a phone, a trip. It went up in smoke instead, while the body paid a second price in tiredness, poor concentration and low mood. When a teenager quits, that money comes back week by week, and that is a reward they can see and feel, unlike a health warning about a disease that may come in thirty years. It is a small thing, but small, visible rewards matter when you are trying to break a hard habit.
I would also say something to teenagers directly, because this article is partly for them. If you smoke, and you are reading this, I want you to know that quitting is possible, and that you do not have to do it alone. The first week will be hard. You will be irritable, you will struggle to concentrate, you will crave cigarettes at the times you always smoked them, and you will wonder whether it is worth it. It is worth it, and the discomfort passes. By the second or third week, most people feel clearer and calmer than they did while smoking. By the second month, most people feel stronger, fitter and more in control. The hard part is short, and the benefits are long, and the sense of having beaten something hard will stay with you for years. You do not need to be ashamed of having started. You need support to stop, and that support is available, from your doctor, your school nurse, a trusted teacher, or a parent. Asking for help is not weakness. It is the smartest thing you can do.
If you are a parent, I would ask you to think carefully about how you talk to your teenager about smoking. A lecture will not work. A teenager who feels judged will stop listening, and will smoke in secret instead of smoking less. What works is honesty, calm, and a willingness to listen. Ask them why they started. Ask them how they feel about it. Ask them whether they have tried to stop, and what made it hard. Tell them what you have learned about how smoking affects the teenage brain, in plain words, without exaggeration. Offer to help them find support, and mean it. The most powerful thing a parent can do is to make quitting feel possible, not to make smoking feel shameful. Shame drives a habit underground. Support brings it into the open, where it can be dealt with.
One more thing worth saying is that the teenage brain is remarkably able to recover, and that is a reason for hope, not for delay. Because the brain is still developing, it is still able to repair itself, and a teenager who quits is giving their brain the chance to finish developing properly, without nicotine shaping it in the wrong direction. The concentration comes back. The memory improves. The mood steadies. The fitness returns. The benefits are not abstract. They show up in school, in sport, in friendships, and in how a teenager feels when they wake up in the morning. That is a powerful reason to quit now, not later, because every month of smoking is a month in which the developing brain is being shaped by nicotine instead of by learning, growth and ordinary life.
Finally, I would say this to any teenager who has never smoked: do not start. It is the easiest advice in this whole article, and it is also the most valuable. Smoking is not glamorous, it is not a sign of being grown up, and it is not a shortcut to fitting in. It is an expensive, addictive habit that damages a brain that is still being built, makes school harder, makes you feel worse, and is far harder to stop than it is to start. If someone offers you a cigarette, remember what you have read here. The first cigarette feels like nothing special. The hundredth one is a trap, and the trap is set for you precisely because you are young. Walk away from the first one, and you will never have to escape the trap. You have a brain that is still growing, still learning, still becoming who you will be. Protect it. It is the most valuable thing you have.
I think it is worth saying something about the first week after quitting, because the fear of that week stops many teenagers from trying at all. The first three days are usually the hardest, with strong cravings, irritability and trouble concentrating. By the end of the first week, the cravings are still there, but they come less often and they pass more quickly. By the second week, most people notice that food tastes better and that they can breathe a little easier. By the third week, the fog starts to lift, and thinking feels clearer than it did while smoking. By the end of the first month, most teenagers feel prouder, calmer and more in control, even though they still get the occasional craving in a stressful moment. None of this means the month is easy. It means it is survivable, and that it gets better week by week, which is exactly what a teenager needs to hear when they are in the middle of the hardest days.
I would also warn a teenager about the one cigarette after they have quit, because it is the most dangerous cigarette of all. It feels harmless. You have not smoked for a month, you are at a party, someone offers you one, and you think a single cigarette cannot undo a month of hard work. It can, and it often does, because one cigarette wakes up the craving, and the craving brings back the habit. Most people who return to smoking after quitting do so with a single cigarette that they thought did not matter. If you have quit, the rule is simple: not one puff, not ever, no matter the occasion. That sounds strict, and it is strict, but it is strict because it works. The teenagers who stay quit are usually the ones who treat that rule as absolute, and who plan in advance what they will say when someone offers them a cigarette at school or at a party.
Quitting with someone else is one of the best strategies I know, and it works for teenagers as well as for adults. If a friend also smokes, quitting together gives you both someone to lean on when cravings hit, and someone to celebrate with when you reach a milestone. You can share what is working, warn each other about hard moments, and keep each other honest. It also removes one of the biggest triggers, which is being around someone else who is smoking every day at school. Quitting together is not always possible, but when it is, it makes a real difference, and I would recommend it to any teenager who has the chance. And if your friends do not want to quit, that does not mean you cannot. It means you need a plan for the moments when they are smoking around you, and a friend, a parent or a teacher you can talk to when it feels hard.
Finally, I want to say something about hope, because this article has been honest about the harm, and honesty about the harm should be matched by honesty about the recovery. The teenage brain is still growing, still learning, still able to repair itself, and a teenager who quits is giving their brain the chance to finish developing properly, without nicotine shaping it in the wrong direction. The concentration comes back. The memory improves. The mood steadies. The fitness returns. The money saved is visible every week. The sense of control, of having beaten something hard at a young age, will stay with you for years, and it will make the next hard thing a little easier too. That is not a small reward. It is a large one, and it is available to any teenager who decides to take it, with support, with a plan, and with patience for the hard first weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does cigarettes affect grades?
Smoking affects grades mainly through concentration, memory and sleep. Nicotine creates a cycle of highs and lows: after a cigarette the brain feels alert for a short time, but as nicotine wears off concentration drops below normal and the mind wanders. Nicotine also disturbs sleep, and the brain stores memories during sleep, so poor sleep means poorer learning. Over weeks and months, missed lessons, forgotten homework and tiredness in class add up, and grades fall, even though the teenager may be working just as hard as before.
Can cigarettes cause a slipping grade even in light users?
Yes, even light smoking can affect schoolwork. Teenagers become dependent on nicotine faster than adults, and even smoking only at weekends or only with friends can create a cycle of craving and restlessness that disturbs concentration during the week. The brain does not wait for a person to become a heavy daily smoker before it adapts to nicotine. Less smoking means less strain, while no smoking gives the brain its best chance to focus, sleep properly and learn well.
How long does it take for cigarettes to harm teenagers?
There is no single timetable, because bodies, habits and amounts differ. The brain starts adapting to nicotine within weeks of regular smoking, and teenagers can feel dependent after only a handful of cigarettes. Concentration and sleep problems can appear within the first months, while the effects on learning, mood and lung growth build up over years. The important point is that the harm starts early, while the brain is still developing, which is why starting young is more damaging than starting as an adult.
Does stopping cigarettes help teenagers recover?
Yes, stopping helps, and the benefits arrive quickly for teenagers because their brains are still developing and able to repair themselves. Within days, breathing feels easier and food tastes better. Within weeks, concentration and sleep improve, and the cough eases. Within months, fitness returns and grades often improve as focus and memory recover. The first week can feel worse, because of withdrawal, but as that fades, most teenagers find they feel clearer, calmer and more in control than they did while smoking.
Why do people keep using cigarettes if it harms peer pressure?
Teenagers keep smoking partly because nicotine is addictive and the developing brain learns the reward quickly, and partly because smoking is tied to friendship and belonging. Refusing a cigarette can feel like refusing the group, and many teenagers keep smoking because they do not want to be left out. The short-term relief of a cigarette also arrives within seconds, while the harm to grades, mood and health is slow and quiet, so it is easy to ignore. Understanding both the addiction and the social pressure is the first step toward quitting, with support from family, friends or a health professional.
When should someone seek advice about cigarettes and peer pressure?
It is sensible to seek advice when a teenager’s grades are falling, when they struggle to concentrate or sleep, when their mood is low or they feel anxious, or when stopping smoking feels very hard. A parent, teacher, school nurse or doctor can give general information and explain the support options available for young people. Seek advice sooner if a teenager feels very low, is struggling to cope, or is smoking heavily. This article is general information only and is not a substitute for personal medical advice.
Sources
This article is general information only. It is not individual medical advice. If you are worried about your health, talk to a qualified health professional.
