Smoking Away Your Life
EmPower Research
September 24, 2008
By Jayanti Shekhar
Do you know which human habit is not categorized as a disease but is a well-known cause of a number of diseases? It´s none other than smoking. 'Smoking is bad for you'– is a very old warning, but had not been taken seriously by any generation. Around 1.1 billion people and up to 1/3 of the adult population are smokers. Accounting for nearly 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths, cigarette smoking is the most important cause of premature death in the United States. Do the smokers know that on an average, each cigarette reduces around 11 minutes of their life? This means smoking reduces life expectancy by seven to eight years.
So, what´s there in a cigarette that makes it so deadly? It´s the toxic substances present in them. Cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic substances, including 60 known carcinogens. Also, when a cigarette is inhaled, it burns at 700°C at the tip and around 60°C in the core. This heat breaks down the tobacco to produce various toxins. The most damaging products are
1. Tar, a carcinogen (a substance that causes cancer)
2. Nicotine an addictive (increases cholesterol levels in the body)
3. Carbon monoxide (reduces oxygen in the body)
4. Components of the gas and particulate phases (cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)).
Diseases Caused by Smoking
Neither is smoking a disease nor does it cause diseases directly, but increases the susceptibility to diseases. A number of diseases are associated with cigarette smoking:
Cardiovascular diseases
Cancer
COPD
emphysema
chronic bronchitis
Atherosclerosis
Hypertension
Vascular diseases
Stroke
Impotence
Mouth diseases
Cigarette smoke is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases which greatly increases when it acts with other factors, such as a family history of heart disease. Smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing process in arteries and makes blood clots two to four times more likely.
The link between smoking and cancer is well established. Smokers are more likely to get cancer than non-smokers. Smokers are prone to
Lung cancer
Throat cancer
Mouth cancer
Bladder cancer
Cancer of the esophagus
Cancer of the kidneys
Cancer of the pancreas
Cervical cancer
The frequency of smoking also matters. The more cigarettes one smokes in a day, and the longer one has smoked, the higher is the risk of lung cancer. Cigarette smokers are also six times more likely to die from different mouth-related cancers, depending on the number of cigarettes smoked.
COPD refers to a group of conditions that block airflow and make breathing more difficult, such as
Emphysema – breathlessness caused by damage to the air sacs (alveoli), also known as "lung rot".
Chronic bronchitis – production of excess mucus in lungs; causes problems in absorbing oxygen.
Smoking is responsible for 80% of COPD cases. When the lungs of 20-a-day smokers are examined after death, 94% of them have some emphysema, while more than 90% of non-smokers have little or none.
Smoking raises blood pressure causing hypertension (high blood pressure), which itself is a risk factor for coronary heart disease.
Smoking causes a number of vascular problems. The blood vessels in the eye are sensitive and can be easily damaged by smoke. Smoking also leads to Buergers disease, which results in poor circulation in the lower leg causing burning and tingling.
Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk that contributes and significantly increases the chances of stroke (a brain injury caused by the lack of blood). The risk of stroke is approximately 50% higher in smokers than in non-smokers.
Impotence (erectile dysfunction(ED) – the constant inability of a man to maintain an erection for sexual purposes) is more likely to occur in smokers than non-smokers. For men in their 30s and 40s, smoking increases the risk of ED by about 50%.
Smoking also causes a number of mouth diseases other than cancers. It stains teeth and gums. It increases the risk of periodontal disease, which causes swollen gums, bad breath and teeth to fall out. Smoking also causes an acid taste in the mouth and helps in the development of ulcers.
Smoking and Women
The ratio of smoking among young women appears to be increasing. Smoking leads to a number of female health problems, pregnancy complications and birth defects. Smoking leads to early menopause. Women who smoke 20 cigarettes a day or more enter menopause approximately 2 years earlier than non-smokers. Miscarriage rates are also high in smokers. Cigarette smoking has been found to retard the growth of fetuses. Babies born to mothers that smoke are generally underweight and are at a higher risk of having heart defects.
Passive Smoking
It´s not just that only smokers are affected by smoking. Passive smoking (involuntary inhalation of secondhand smoke (SHS)) is a major concern. Cotinine is a biological marker for SHS exposure and found in higher concentrations in lungs of passive smokers.
For some people SHS is very annoying. But apart from causing annoyance SHS is very hazardous also.
In the case of cigarettes, a mixture of smoke released from the smoldering end of the cigarette and smoke exhaled by the smoker constitute SHS. SHS causes the same problems as direct smoking, including heart disease, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and COPD, bronchitis and asthma. Some of the common effects of passive smoking on non-smokers are
Asthma and respiratory infection
Eye irritation
Headaches
Nausea
Coughing
Wheezing
Dizziness
Low birth weight babies
Pre-term delivery
Miscarriage
Even children living in a home where one or both of their parents smoke have twice the risk of getting asthma and asthmatic bronchitis and have a higher risk of developing allergies.
Smoking and Newborn Babies
Smoking has profound effects on newborn babies.
It has been found that the danger of breathing problems and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) increases if parents smoke near their newborn babies.
Also, the babies are turned into heavy passive smokers.
The babies with at least one parent who smokes have more than five times the usual level of cotinine – a chemical metabolite of nicotine.
Prenatal exposure to cigarette smoking also results in lower cognitive abilities later in development – specifically, language and reading skills.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)/cot death/crib death
SIDS is responsible for approximately 1 death per 2,000 births in the U.S.
SIDS is marked by the symptoms of sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant aged one month to one year.
The infant is found dead after having been put to bed, without showing any signs of having suffered.
SHS is connected to SIDS.
Infants who die from SIDS tend to have higher concentrations of nicotine and cotinine in their lungs than those who die from other causes. Risk of SIDS also increases in infants exposed to SHS after birth.
Thus both active and passive smoking affects almost every human organ and reduces overall health. They impact all ages from unborn babies, newborn babies, children, youngsters, adults and elders. So to live longer and to live healthier, one should quit smoking. Also, if we want our coming generations to live longer and healthier smoking should be banned.
It is true that Habits are EASY to make but HARD to break. But not that it is impossible to get rid of any habit. It might be painful but could be controlled and finally given up. A strong will power and firm determination could be most effective to help one to quit smoking because smoking is just a habit which we have developed and we have to BREAK FREE from.
Do you know which human habit is not categorized as a disease but is a well-known cause of a number of diseases? It´s none other than smoking. 'Smoking is bad for you'– is a very old warning, but had not been taken seriously by any generation. Around 1.1 billion people and up to 1/3 of the adult population are smokers. Accounting for nearly 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths, cigarette smoking is the most important cause of premature death in the United States. Do the smokers know that on an average, each cigarette reduces around 11 minutes of their life? This means smoking reduces life expectancy by seven to eight years.
So, what´s there in a cigarette that makes it so deadly? It´s the toxic substances present in them. Cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic substances, including 60 known carcinogens. Also, when a cigarette is inhaled, it burns at 700°C at the tip and around 60°C in the core. This heat breaks down the tobacco to produce various toxins. The most damaging products are
1. Tar, a carcinogen (a substance that causes cancer)
2. Nicotine an addictive (increases cholesterol levels in the body)
3. Carbon monoxide (reduces oxygen in the body)
4. Components of the gas and particulate phases (cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)).
Diseases Caused by Smoking
Neither is smoking a disease nor does it cause diseases directly, but increases the susceptibility to diseases. A number of diseases are associated with cigarette smoking:
Cardiovascular diseases
Cancer
COPD
emphysema
chronic bronchitis
Atherosclerosis
Hypertension
Vascular diseases
Stroke
Impotence
Mouth diseases
Cigarette smoke is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases which greatly increases when it acts with other factors, such as a family history of heart disease. Smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing process in arteries and makes blood clots two to four times more likely.
The link between smoking and cancer is well established. Smokers are more likely to get cancer than non-smokers. Smokers are prone to
Lung cancer
Throat cancer
Mouth cancer
Bladder cancer
Cancer of the esophagus
Cancer of the kidneys
Cancer of the pancreas
Cervical cancer
The frequency of smoking also matters. The more cigarettes one smokes in a day, and the longer one has smoked, the higher is the risk of lung cancer. Cigarette smokers are also six times more likely to die from different mouth-related cancers, depending on the number of cigarettes smoked.
COPD refers to a group of conditions that block airflow and make breathing more difficult, such as
Emphysema – breathlessness caused by damage to the air sacs (alveoli), also known as "lung rot".
Chronic bronchitis – production of excess mucus in lungs; causes problems in absorbing oxygen.
Smoking is responsible for 80% of COPD cases. When the lungs of 20-a-day smokers are examined after death, 94% of them have some emphysema, while more than 90% of non-smokers have little or none.
Smoking raises blood pressure causing hypertension (high blood pressure), which itself is a risk factor for coronary heart disease.
Smoking causes a number of vascular problems. The blood vessels in the eye are sensitive and can be easily damaged by smoke. Smoking also leads to Buergers disease, which results in poor circulation in the lower leg causing burning and tingling.
Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk that contributes and significantly increases the chances of stroke (a brain injury caused by the lack of blood). The risk of stroke is approximately 50% higher in smokers than in non-smokers.
Impotence (erectile dysfunction(ED) – the constant inability of a man to maintain an erection for sexual purposes) is more likely to occur in smokers than non-smokers. For men in their 30s and 40s, smoking increases the risk of ED by about 50%.
Smoking also causes a number of mouth diseases other than cancers. It stains teeth and gums. It increases the risk of periodontal disease, which causes swollen gums, bad breath and teeth to fall out. Smoking also causes an acid taste in the mouth and helps in the development of ulcers.
Smoking and Women
The ratio of smoking among young women appears to be increasing. Smoking leads to a number of female health problems, pregnancy complications and birth defects. Smoking leads to early menopause. Women who smoke 20 cigarettes a day or more enter menopause approximately 2 years earlier than non-smokers. Miscarriage rates are also high in smokers. Cigarette smoking has been found to retard the growth of fetuses. Babies born to mothers that smoke are generally underweight and are at a higher risk of having heart defects.
Passive Smoking
It´s not just that only smokers are affected by smoking. Passive smoking (involuntary inhalation of secondhand smoke (SHS)) is a major concern. Cotinine is a biological marker for SHS exposure and found in higher concentrations in lungs of passive smokers.
For some people SHS is very annoying. But apart from causing annoyance SHS is very hazardous also.
In the case of cigarettes, a mixture of smoke released from the smoldering end of the cigarette and smoke exhaled by the smoker constitute SHS. SHS causes the same problems as direct smoking, including heart disease, cardiovascular disease, lung cancer and COPD, bronchitis and asthma. Some of the common effects of passive smoking on non-smokers are
Asthma and respiratory infection
Eye irritation
Headaches
Nausea
Coughing
Wheezing
Dizziness
Low birth weight babies
Pre-term delivery
Miscarriage
Even children living in a home where one or both of their parents smoke have twice the risk of getting asthma and asthmatic bronchitis and have a higher risk of developing allergies.
Smoking and Newborn Babies
Smoking has profound effects on newborn babies.
It has been found that the danger of breathing problems and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) increases if parents smoke near their newborn babies.
Also, the babies are turned into heavy passive smokers.
The babies with at least one parent who smokes have more than five times the usual level of cotinine – a chemical metabolite of nicotine.
Prenatal exposure to cigarette smoking also results in lower cognitive abilities later in development – specifically, language and reading skills.
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)/cot death/crib death
SIDS is responsible for approximately 1 death per 2,000 births in the U.S.
SIDS is marked by the symptoms of sudden and unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant aged one month to one year.
The infant is found dead after having been put to bed, without showing any signs of having suffered.
SHS is connected to SIDS.
Infants who die from SIDS tend to have higher concentrations of nicotine and cotinine in their lungs than those who die from other causes. Risk of SIDS also increases in infants exposed to SHS after birth.
Thus both active and passive smoking affects almost every human organ and reduces overall health. They impact all ages from unborn babies, newborn babies, children, youngsters, adults and elders. So to live longer and to live healthier, one should quit smoking. Also, if we want our coming generations to live longer and healthier smoking should be banned.
It is true that Habits are EASY to make but HARD to break. But not that it is impossible to get rid of any habit. It might be painful but could be controlled and finally given up. A strong will power and firm determination could be most effective to help one to quit smoking because smoking is just a habit which we have developed and we have to BREAK FREE from.