Tobacco |
Tobacco leave plants contain nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive, toxic substance. The most common method of tobacco use is cigarettes. Other methods include cigars, pipes, hookah pipes, smokeless tobacco and electronic or e-cigarettes.
Nicotine enters the bloodstream. The blood vessels becomenarrow and adrenaline is released. Heart rate and blood pressure increases. The heart then has to work harder to pump blood through body. Restricted blood flow in the vessel walls built- up by fatty deposits increase the risk of heart attacks or strokes. Over time, smoking damages the lungs and discontinues stunt growth in teenagers.
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Toxic Chemicals Found in Tobacco Products Also Found in embalming fluid, rat poison, pesticides, car exhaust, lighter fluid, battery acid, nail polish remover, road-paving material, hair dye, mothballs, rocket fuel, paint, rubber cement, battery acid and household cleaners.
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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is lung difficulty diseases such as Chronic Bronchitis, Emphysema and Cancers. Chronic bronchitis is when bronchial tubes become swollen, irritated and narrowing of the pathways to lungs take place. Emphysema is when sacs of air in lung tissue are destroyed causing difficulty breathing. Abnormal rapid cell growth that forms a mass of cells or tumor that interferes with breathing is known as Lung Cancer.
Women who smoke while pregnant raise the risk their children will be born prematurely, have a low birth weight, die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and develop behavioral problems.
Statistics
- Each day in the United States,
- 3,200 teenagers smoke their first cigarette
- 2,100 teenagers and young adults who were occasional smokers become daily smokers
- Yet 9 out of 10 teenagers do not smoke
- Within days of quitting, blood pressure and heart rate decrease, coughing abates
- Within a year of quitting, risk of heart attack and cancer decrease
- Close to 90% of adults who smoke regularly had their first cigarette by 18 years of age
- Prevention is the best way to reduce the smoking rate
- Banning the sale of tobacco products (to people younger than 18 years of age, for example)
- Banning smoking in public places
- Increasing taxes on cigarettes
- Requiring warning labels on packaging
- Mass media antismoking campaigns
- Pack of cigarettes costs between $5 and $14, depending on local tax rates
- Cost of a pack-a-day habit at $7 a pack:
- $213 per month
- $2,557 per year
- $25,570 per decade
- One-half million adults will die prematurely from smoking this year
- Total economic costs due to tobacco are over $289 billion a year