Harms of Smoking and the benefits of quitting

Febuary 26, 2016

     Harms of Smoking and the benefits of quitting

     Smoking is a nasty habit that many Americans continue to take part in their everyday lives. Many people to this day don't know what harms of smoking 1 cigarette does to your body. Tobacco smoke contains many harmful chemicals. They can be harmful to the smoker as well as anybody who breathes in the smoke. There are over 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke. 250 of those chemicals are considered to be very harmful, including hydrogen, cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. Among these 250 harmful chemicals, at least 69 of them can cause cancer. 

    So you might ask what are my health risks if I do smoke? Smoking has been found to effect every bodily organ and organ system as well diminishing the person overall health. Smoking is the leading cause of cancer and death from cancer. It can cause cancer of the lung, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, cervix, as well as the colon. Smoking also causes inflammation and impairs immune function. According to the National Cancer Institute a smokers risk of developing lung cancer has increased compared with nonsmokers, even though the number of cigarettes consumer per smoker has decreased. Smoking also makes it harder for women to become pregnant. If a women who is pregnant is a chronic smoker she is more likely to experience a miscarriage then somebody who is tobacco free. If she smokes while pregnant she is at higher risk of miscarriage, early delivery, a baby born with a cleft lip, or born with SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Men who smoke are at greater risk of erectile dysfunction. Regardless of age, a smoker can reduce their risk of developing these diseases by quitting. There is also risks for nonsmokers as well. The one risk that is against them is secondhand smoke. Second hand smoke has been classified as a human carcinogen which is also know as a cancer causing agent. Almost 7,000 lung cancer deaths occur because of secondhand smoke exposure. 

   Other than cigarettes there are other forms of smoking that have become very popular over the years. All forms are harmful and can become very addictive. Other forms of smoking can be pipes, Hookahs, Bidis, Kreteks, When using a hookah the smoke passes through a partially filled water bowl before being inhaled by the smoker. Some people think smoking hookah is less harmful but after many studies researches believe its as toxic as smoking cigarettes. The second one that can be super dangerous is Bidis. Bidid is a flavored cigarette made by rolling tobacco in a dried leaf from a tendu tree. This type is said to be associated with heart attacks, and cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and lungs. It is recommended to stay away from these to stay clear of the consequences.
   With smoking there is long term benefits as well as short term if you quit. The list of benefits of quitting goes on and on. Within several months of quitting, the person can expect to have improvements in lung function such as breathing better. Heart rate and blood pressure as well go down and return to normal levels for that particular person. Smoking as well has mutiple long term benefits when quitting. According to the National Health Data Survey show that people who quit have gains in life expectancy. Those who quit between ages of 25 and 35 years lived almost 10 years longer. I thought this was very interesting and should give people motivation to quit in order to live a longer life.
    If you have somebody in your family that is trying to quit or you want to take action for them and help them quit there are ways. One resource that is recommended is NCI Smoking Quitline. Its a free service of individual counseling that could help yourself or your love ones quit this habit for good.


Reverence:

 Harms of Cigarette Smoking and Health Benefits of Quitting. (n.d.). Retrieved February 29, 2016, from http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/tobacco/cessation-fact-sheet

 

    

Smoking and Tobacco Facts 

The article Smoking and Tobacco from the CDC provides many fast facts on smoking and information that everybody should be aware of. This article has showed me the total amount of people in the United States that are currently smoking. I learned from this article that a huge part of our population are current smokers and how the industry of cigarettes and other forms of smoking is booming. 

         The first topic the article talks about is diseases death due to smoking. Smoking and leads to disease and disability as well as harms every organ in the body. More than 16 million Americans are living with a disease that is caused by smoking. These diseases include cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Many people that smoke don't know that impact that one little cigarette has on your body and how much damage it can do to your organs and overall health. Smoking is also the leading cause for preventable death in the United States. Cigarette smoking is causes more than 480,000 deaths every year. This includes 42,000 deaths resulting from second hand smoke exposure. It is said to be 5 deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths daily. Current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths by the year 2030. Smoking is beginning to make a huge impact on young people. Many more younger age people are starting to use tobacco. This could be for a number of reasons. If smoking continues at a current rate of young people 5.6 million are expected to die prematurely from a smoking related disease. 

         This article also showed the reader on how much we spend on this habit and how the industry is booming. The tobacco industry spends billions dollars each year on cigarette advertising and promotions. In 2012 $9.17 billion was spent on advertising and promotions of cigarettes. That is more than $25 million a day or more than $ 1 million every hour. In order to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers there are discounts paid to cigarette retailers or wholesalers. Price discounts count for 85% of all cigarette marketing. Along with this smoking costs United States billion dollars every year. The total cost is more than 300 billion a year. This includes $170 billion in medical care for adults as well as $156 billion in lost productivity due to premature death and second hand smoke. One thing that I thought was interesting was the states spending on tobacco prevention and control does not meet CDC recommended levels. States have billion of dollars from tobacco taxes and industry legal settlements to prevent tobacco use. However many of the states are refusing to use these funds for tobacco prevention programs. As of right now only 1 state, North Dakota, is supporting the funds for tobacco prevention programs under CDC recommended levels. 

         The last topic this article discussed was the amount of cigarette smokers in the United States. As of 2014, 16.8% of adults (40 million people) were current smokers. The highest ethnicity using cigarettes was non- Hispanic American Indian Alaskan natives (). Every day more and more people start smoking. More than 3,200 people younger than 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette. Along with this 2,100 youth and young adults who have been occasional smokers began to smoke every day. 

        I believe this article from CDC did a great job at providing the most important facts about smoking that people need to know. This article is great way to learn a little more about smoking and how much it effects us as people and economically. It provides us with information that we can take to heart and maybe try and make a difference in ourselves or people that we know who are current smokers. I hope from this article you can take away something and use it somehow in your every day. 

       

References:

 Fast Facts. (2015). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm#toll

 

         

Introduction

Monday, February 15 2016


Hello everybody, my name is Lea Viano. I am a health studies major and I chose the topic smoking and tobacco. In the United States many people to this day still take on this habit. My grandma and grandpa smoked their whole life all the way up until their death which was triggered by their smoking habit. My goal for this blog is to spread awareness of this habit and how it can effect your body and your overall health. I believe everybody should stay clear away from cigarettes or any kind of smoking device to help your health. Stay tuned for more posts to come.