Many medical authorities consider cigarette smoking the most harmful of the preventable risk factors associated with chronic illness and premature death. Approximately 40% of male smokers and 28% of female smokers die prematurely. Smokers have twice the risk of having a heart attack and are two to four times more likely to die suddenly from a heart attack than are nonsmokers.Hypertension results from peripheral resistance to blood flow, and cigarette smoking contributes to peripheral resistance by constricting the arterioles. Smoking significantly exacerbates the effects of high blood pressure. Although the number of people who smoke is declining, 46.3 million adults (25.7% of the population) continue to smoke.
Harmful Products In Cigarettes
Nicotine, carbon monoxide and other poisonous gases, tars, and chemical additives for taste and flavor are the hazardous products in cigarettes. Carbon monoxide and nicotine have a devastating effect on the heart and blood vessels. Nicotine is an addictive stimulant that increases the resting heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolism. It should be reclassified as a drug and placed under the jurisdiction of the food and drug a dministration (FDA). Carbon monoxide, a noxious gas that is a by product of the combustion of tobacco products, displaces oxygen in the blood because it has a greater affinity for hemoglobin. The diminished oxygen carrying capacity of the blood is partly responsible for the shortness of breath that smokers experience with mild physical exertion.
Cigarettes and other tobacco products are not regulated by the FDA because tobacco is not classified as a food or drug. Therefore the tobacco industry is under no mandate to disclose the nature and type of chemicals that are added to tobacco products.
These products may be harmful. The public has a right to know, but the tobacco industry has successfully resisted attempts by government agencies and consumer groups to force disclosure.
The harmful effects of cigarette smoking are insidious and take time to appear. The medical profession measures the damage from smoking in pack years. Smoking one pack of cigarettes per day for 15 years is equal to 15 pack years . Two packs per day for 15 years is equal to 30 pack years . Medical problems become evident after 25 to 30 pack years.
The challenge of Quitting
To quit the tobacco habit, you have to first break the addiction to nicotine and then break the psychological dependence on smoking. This involves a change in behavior, as well as effective ways to deal with the social and situational stimuli that promote the desire to smoke. Men have been more successful quitters than women. Data from 1974 to 1992 show that smoking among women decreased by 8% while smoking among men decreased by 15%. Today, more young women than young men are smoking, representing a reversal of a long standing trend. The increasing number of young women smokers, coupled with the number of years that women have been smoking, has reversed another trend: lung cancer has replaced breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death among women.
Complicating the effort to quit, particularly among young women, is the fear of gaining weight. Approximately 65% of those who quit do gain weight, but the physiological adaptations that occur may only account for a 7 to 8 pound weight gain. The physiological mechanisms responsible are probably associated with a slowing of metabolism and slower transit time of food in the digestive system so that more is absorbed by the body. Weight gain beyond 8 pounds is probably caused by altered eating patterns rather than physiology. Food smells and tastes better. It may substitute for a cigarette, especially during social activities. It may provide some of the oral gratification previously obtained from smoking, and it may relieve tension. Weight gain can be avoided by eating sensibly and exercising moderately and frequently.
As a group, smokers are 7% thinner than non smokers, but smokers tend to distribute more fat in the abdominal area. The waist to hip ratio (WHR) is greater in smokers even though they are thinner. This fat distribution is not only aesthetically unappealing but also predisposes to coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some forms of cancer.
Tags:carbon monoxide, cigarette smoking, cigarettes, Health and Wellness, heart attack, male smokers, nicotine, resting heart rate tobacco products
October 29th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
i think that people really should stop smoking, i suffer from second hand smoke, maybe you could talk about how that could be prevented?