There are many campaigns against tobacco use, stating that tobacco causes death. However, a risk to health does not seem to be a good enough reason to quit anymore. People somehow ignore the facts that are given to them on tobacco use. The purpose of this essay is to shine a light on three effects of tobacco use, besides the possibilities of getting cancer or dying, which are the causes of secondhand smoke, the various health problems, and the cost that comes with doing it.
The first effect of tobacco use is secondhand smoking is that the smoke gets into everything around it. If children are in the room, they are exposed to the chemicals that are in the smoke. Smokers always have stinky hair, breath, and clothes. However, if they smoke cigarettes indoors they are not the only person that has to deal with the consequences of the smoke. The smell of the cigarette smoke is very strong and hard to get rid of. Even if a person or people quit using tobacco, products the damage that they have done stays for a long time.
The second effect of tobacco use is one that most people do not even consider. The health problems are associated with using tobacco, such as poor breath, wheezing, sputum production, and breathing problems like bronchitis. Since these effects are long term, some people are unaware of it when they start using tobacco. The truth is, tobacco stains and smells are hard to remove from the whole body, and it will end up costing a lot of money to try to remove them.
The third effect of tobacco use is that it will eventually affect the tobacco user's personal relationships with family and friends. Depending on the state, the prices of tobacco can differ. Nevertheless, even at an affordable price the constant consumption of tobacco will soon take its toll on the human body and the person's relationships. That is when cancer, bronchitis, and various tumors come into play.
Tobacco companies are doing very well all over the world. Every packet of cigars or cigarettes has a warning inscribed in it: cigarette smoking is injurious to health." Yet the smoker never reads this warning and even if he reads it he never pays heed to it. The government raises the price of tobacco every year. This is usually done to discourage people from smoking. Yet smokers continue to be slaves of this habit and often spend a substantial part of their earnings on cigarettes. Cigarette advertisements lure people into smoking and most active smokers cause a great deal of harm to passive smokers as well. Smokers force the members of their family to bear the ill effects of the smoke that they exhale. Smoking can be stopped by a strong will power and every person has the capacity to give it up once he sets his mind at doing so. Smokeless tobacco, or better known as chew, dip, or snuff, is the new alternative for smoking. As a child of a smoker I have personally tried to stay smoke free, but to no avail. I started smoking when I was thirteen years of age. Each and every day I am confronted with the choice to smoke or not, because I now have children of my own. To my surprise I have also seen many of my friends start to chew tobacco, which in my opinion is the most unattractive habit out there.
Nonsmokers have the right to be healthy, but too many times this is almost impossible to avoid, especially in public areas. Secondhand smoke is a big issue. No matter where you are when you smoke, chances are it is affecting another person's health. Even when you are outside others nearby can reap its deadly effects. Parents put their children's health at risk by smoking at home too. Smoking has become very common and fashionable, especially among young boys. This habit usually begins at school when boys try to experiment with every new thing that they can lay their hands on.
Despite the warnings given by doctors about the ill-effects of smoking, people continue to smoke. Smokers are addicted to it, and even if they want to, they cannot refrain from picking up a cigar or cigarette and puffing away. Some youngsters smoke for the sake of society and some feel that would make them appear liberated and broadminded.
In the beginning, a teenager may take a few puffs from his friend's cigarette; then comes a time when it becomes an indispensable part of his life. Several puffs lead to the formation of a habit. Soon smoking begins to affect the health of the smoker. He becomes a chain-smoker. This smoke is toxic and the nicotine in the cigarette is known to cause cancer. It is ironic that despite the fact that every smoker is aware of the ill effects of smoking, he does not give it up.
My decision in choosing this topic is to not only provide facts, but to also uncover the long term effects that tobacco has on an individual. There are two forms of smokeless tobacco: chewing tobacco and snuff. Chewing tobacco is sold in either leaf tobacco (in a pouch) or plug tobacco (in brick form) both of which are put between the cheek and gum. Users keep chewing tobacco in their mouths for a couple hours to get a continuous buzz from the nicotine in the tobacco. Snuff is a powered tobacco, which is usually sold in cans and put between the lower lip and gum. They use just a pinch to get the nicotine they need, which is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, resulting in a quick high. This may sound harmless but the chemicals found in smokeless tobacco is anything but harmless to your health. Here are a few ingredients found in smokeless tobacco: h Nicotine (addictive drug) h Polonium 210 (nuclear waste) h Cadmium (used in car batteries) h N-Nitrosamines (cancer-causing) h Lead (nerve poison) h Formaldehyde (embalming fluid) The nicotine contained in smokeless tobacco is what gives the user a buzz and also makes it very hard to quit (1).
Because smokeless tobacco is more addicting than cigarettes people can tend to need to chew more frequently. Tobacco users who dip or chew 8 to 10 times a day may be receiving the nicotine equivalent of 30 to 40 cigarettes a day, depending on the size of the cuttings and the pH of the brand (6). For those who are addicted there are many physical and mental effects that coincide with smokeless tobacco. Even after a few months of use a user can begin to develop Leukoplakia, which is a white, leathery-like patch (5). When the user hold the tobacco in one place, your mouth becomes irritated by the tobacco juice, which causes leukoplakia.
They are considered pre-cancerous, and come in many different sizes and shape. Another very common risk factor is gum and tooth disease. Smokeless tobacco causes bad breath and permanently discolored teeth. It is also in direct and repeated contact with the gums, which cause them to recede, and your teeth to become loose. Smokeless tobacco also contains a lot of sugar, and when mixed with plaque on their teeth, it begins to eat away at the tooth enamel, which can cause cavities and painful sores (1). Long-term usage can most commonly result in cancer. There are an estimated 29,800 new cases of oral cancer to be diagnosed this year, with an estimated 8,100 dying of oral cancer (7). It is most commonly caused the same way that leukoplakia, which results it cancer in 3-5% of all cases. It is also known to cause cancer of the pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. It can also have a significant effect on their social life. The bad breath, discolored teeth, constant spitting, and gunk stuck in their teeth can have a VERY negative effect on one's social and love life. If they have oral cancer it could often result in a need to remove parts of their face, tongue, cheek, or lip (2). So when people try to justify that smokeless tobacco is healthier than smoking because there is no smoke like a cigarette has.
On top of everything mentioned, all are susceptible to cancer as well as the stomach, anus, pancreas, lip, mouth, throat, bladder, and kidney. For women the cervix, uterus, and vulvar are all vulnerable as well. Smoking also affects smokers mentally and socially. Many times smokers do not realize the high risks involved with smoking. Several of these risks are not even health related. Smoking comes with a high price tag. Insurance companies can, and do raise their rates for smokers.
Sometimes nonsmokers feel the pain in their wallet as well. As a nation our taxes pay the high costs of medical care for smoking related diseases through Medicare and Medicaid, and through other supplemental health care programs. Hundreds of worker hours are lost due to smoking. Statistics show that smokers take more frequent, and longer breaks, and they miss more work days due to health problems caused or complicated by smoking. Many businesses need to provide a special area for smokers. Keeping that area up to code can be costly. All these things not only affect the company's bottom line, they cut deeply into every employee's paycheck.
First of all the main problem with smoking is how it harms you physically. Smoking physically harms the main organs and organ systems of your body. The most important organ of all affected is the brain, the more you smoke the more likely you are to have a stroke or a tumor may form in your brain from the chemicals in the tobacco. According to studies performed by the North East Valley Division General Practice, your heart is at great risk as well heart disease and coronary occlusion (heart attack) are 25 percent more likely to occur in smoking males. You may be diagnosed with emphysema and asthma because smoking affects your lungs more than any other organ.
Men who smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smokers. Also a 20 a day smoker breathes in up to a full cup of tar a year. The circulatory system is also greatly affected- vessel damage, gangrene, narrowing of the arteries, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and peripheral vascular disease in hands and feet. Diabetes, stained skin and nails, stained teeth are all other effects of smoking. For female smokers' menstrual problems, early menopause, higher risk of osteoporosis, fertility problems (poorer outcome), and miscarriage, pregnant outside the uterus, retard growth and malformations.
The new laws that ban smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants, is a smart move by the state. We all know that smoking is detrimental to an individual's health by polluting one's lungs, yellowing teeth, and causing bad breath. It is a very expensive habit since prices for cigarettes go up every year and more and more people cannot afford them. Smoking not only is harmful to an individual, the smoke from a cigarette directly affects the people around the smoker, otherwise known as second-hand smoke. Many smokers think that health problems from smoking will not happen to them and start well into childhood and that they can easily quit before that time.
However, a huge percent of smokers have trouble quitting their habit of smoking and suffer from unalterable health effects. One of the main tribulations due to smoking is that it damages the lungs. It irritates and damages the respiratory tract. Each year a one-pack-a-day smoker smears the equivalent of a cup of tar over his or her respiratory tract. This irritation and damage cause a variety of symptoms, including bad breath, cough, sputum production, wheezing, and respiratory infections such as bronchitis. Tobacco contains over 4,000 chemicals most of which are harmful to the body. Smoking is the risk of four different types of cancer and several other illnesses. Smoking affects the lungs, heart, circulatory system, brain, and several other organs. Cigarettes and cigars can--and does--harm you physically, mentally and socially and even others around you.
These are three effects using tobacco products can have on people, but to any sensible person these are enough to realize that smoking is bad. People cannot be proud of calling themselves tobacco users. It is terrible for their health and personal appearance. In the end, people that are rich or poverty stricken, stink of tobacco, and have many health issues that lead to a lifetime of pain and eventually death. These are the people affected the most by this life threatening activity.
Work Cited
Bill L. Lasley, et al. "Cigarette Smoking and Effects on Hormone Function In Premenopausal Women." Environmental Health Perspectives 113.10 (2005): 1285. Green FILE. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.
Cordry, Harold V. "Tobacco." Tobacco: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2001. ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. Web. 23 Nov 2012.
Piccardo, Maria Teresa, Anna Stella, and Federico Valerio. "Is The Smokers Exposure To Environmental Tobacco Smoke Negligible?" Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 9. (2010): 1-4. Green FILE. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.
Rockville (MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General, 2001. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.
Sapkota, Amy R., Sibel Berger, and Timothy M. Vogel. "Human Pathogens Abundant In the Bacterial Metagenome of Cigarettes." Environmental Health Perspectives 118.3 (2010): 351-356. Green FILE. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.
Washam, Cynthia. "Can Cigarette Alternatives Deliver A Safer Fix?" Environmental Health Perspectives 119.7 (2011): A286-A287. Green FILE. Web. 23 Nov. 2012.
