Effects of Smoking

SMOKING:

          Smoking is the major problem that almost 75% of men has. It is an addiction and it starts by the way of curiosity. Boys in their school days starts to smoke with the curiosity and after that they couldn't stop since they get addicted to it. About 20%  people leaves this habit after 30 years but still people continues till their life end even if they are in old age.

CAUSES:
         Smoking causes Cardiovascular disease, Cancer,Lung disease,Stroke, aortic aneurysm( a balloon-like bulge in artery in the Chest), Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD),Asthma,Hip fractures and Cataracts. Smokers are at higher risk of developing pneumonia and other airway infections.

DRUGS USED IN CIGARETTE:
             Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco smoke that causes smokers to continue to smoke. Addicted smokers need enough nicotine over a day to ‘feel normal’ – to satisfy cravings or control their mood. How much nicotine a smoker needs determines how much smoke they are likely to inhale, no matter what type of cigarette they smoke.

             Along with nicotine, smokers inhale about 7,000 other chemicals in cigarette smoke. Many of these chemicals come from burning tobacco leaf. Some of these compounds are chemically active and trigger profound and damaging changes in the body.Tobacco smoke contains over 60 known cancer-causing chemicals. Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body, causing many diseases and reducing health in general.

DANGEROUS CHEMICALS IN CIGARETTE:

The most damaging components of tobacco smoke are:

• Tar – this is the collective term for the various particles suspended in tobacco smoke. The particles contain chemicals, including several cancer-causing substances (carcinogens). Tar is sticky and brown, and stains teeth, fingernails and lung tissue. Tar contains the carcinogen Benz(a)pyrene
• Carbon monoxide – this odorless gas is fatal in large doses because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood. Each red blood cell contains a protein called hemoglobin that transports oxygen molecules around the body. However, carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin better than oxygen. This means that less oxygen reaches the brain, heart, muscles and other organs
• Hydrogen cyanide – the lungs contain tiny hairs (cilia) that help to clean the lungs by moving foreign substances out. Hydrogen cyanide stops this lung clearance system from working properly, which means the poisonous chemicals in tobacco smoke can build up inside the lungs. Other chemicals in smoke that damage the lungs include hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, organic acids, phenols and oxidising agents
• Free radicals – these highly reactive chemicals can damage the heart muscles and blood vessels. They react with cholesterol, leading to the build-up of fatty material on artery walls. Their actions lead to heart disease, stroke and blood vessel disease
• Metals – tobacco smoke contains dangerous metals including arsenic, cadmium and lead. Several of these metals are carcinogenic
• Radioactive compounds – tobacco smoke contains radioactive compounds that are known to be carcinogenic.

EFFECTS OF SMOKING:

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE:

            Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death due to smoking. Hardening of the arteries is a process that develops over years, when cholesterol and other fats deposit in the arteries, leaving them narrow, blocked or rigid. When the arteries narrow (atherosclerosis), blood clots are likely to form.Smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing process in your arteries and blood clots are two to four times more likely.

CANCER:
          Smokers are more likely to get cancer than non-smokers. This is particularly true of lung cancer, throat cancer and mouth cancer, which hardly ever affect non-smokers.

The link between smoking and lung cancer is clear.

• Ninety percent of lung cancer cases are due to smoking.
• If no-one smoked, lung cancer would be a rare diagnosis - only 0.5 per cent of people who've never touched a cigarette develop lung cancer.
• One in ten moderate smokers and almost one in five heavy smokers (more than 15 cigarettes a day) will die of lung cancer.

The more cigarettes you smoke in a day, and the longer you've smoked, the higher your risk of lung cancer. Similarly, the risk rises the deeper you inhale and the earlier in life you started smoking.

• For ex-smokers, it takes approximately 15 years before the risk of lung cancer drops to the same as that of a non-smoker.

• If you smoke, the risk of contracting mouth cancer is also four times higher than for a non-smoker. Cancer can start in many areas of the mouth, with the most common being on or underneath the tongue, or on the lips.

LUNG DISEASE:
         Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a collective term for a group of conditions that block airflow and make breathing more difficult, such as:

• Emphysema - breathlessness caused by damage to the air sacs within the lungs
• Chronic Bronchitis - coughing with a lot of mucus that continues for at least three months.
• Smoking is the most common cause of COPD and is responsible for 80% of cases.
• It's estimated that 94% of 20-a-day smokers have some emphysema when the lungs are examined after death, while more than 90% of non-smokers have little or none.

COPD typically starts between the ages of 35 and 45 when lung function starts to decline anyway. In smokers, the rate of decline in lung function can be three times the usual rate. As lung function declines, breathlessness begins.

OTHER RISKS CAUSED BY SMOKING:

• Smoking raises blood pressure - a risk factor for heart attacks and stroke.
• Couples who smoke are more likely to have fertility problems than couples who are non-smokers.
• Smoking worsens asthma and counteracts asthma medication by worsening the inflammation of the airways that the medicine tries to ease.
• Smoking stains your teeth and gums.
• Smoking causes an acid taste in the mouth and contributes to the development of ulcers.
• Smoking also affects your looks: smokers have paler skin and more wrinkles. This is because smoking reduces the blood supply to the skin and lowers levels of vitamin A.F.

THE VIDEO IS ABOUT HOW SMOKING AFFECTS OUR HEALTH: