Chapter 11
Tobacco
-Nicotine is the addictive drug that is found in all tobacco products
-At low doses it is a mild stimulant and muscle relaxant.
-At high doses it is a powerful nerve poison.
-Sixty milligrams of nicotine is enough to kill a person.
-One or two milligrams are inhaled when a cigarette is smoked.
-There are at least 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, 40 of which are classified as carcinogens.
-Tar is the thick sticky black substance that coats the inside of airways that contain many carcinogens including:
-Cyanide
-Formaldehyde
-Lead
-Vinyl Chloride
-Ammonia
-Carbon Monoxide
-Snuff contains two to three times more nicotine than cigarette smoke does.
-Eight dips a day has the same amount of nicotine as does 30 cigarettes
-Snuff and chewing tobacco contain carcinogens as well including:
-Arsenic
-nickel
-benzopyrene
-polonium (gives off radiation)
-Herbal cigarettes also contain tobacco but include spices to mask the taste.
-Pipe tobacco and cigars although believed to be safer because they are not inhaled as deeply have been linked to oral cancer.
-Cigarette smoking kills more than 400,000 people in the United States each year, and almost all smokers start as teenagers.
-Quitting smoking is difficult and withdrawal symptoms are unpleasant, but the dangers of chronic tobacco exposure are far worse.
-Nicotine has the following effects on the body:
-stimulates the brain reward system
-increases heart rate and blood pressure
-increases breathing rate
-increases blood sugar levels
-stimulates the vomit reflex
-The chemicals in dip and snuff cause the gums to become raw and irritated, open sores form and cancer of the mouth
-Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States
-Cilia are the tiny hairs found in the alveoli that constantly remove excess mucus from the lungs.
-These tiny hairs become paralyzed when cigarette smoke is inhaled causing excess coughing and damaging particle build up.
-The inflammation along with constant particle and mucus build up can lead to chronic bronchitis.
-Emphysema is a respiratory disease in which air cannot move in and out of the lungs because the alveoli become blocked or lose their elasticity.
-This disease causes a person not to be able to get oxygen into their system and will worsen over time.
-85% of all emphysema cases are caused by smoking
-Cigarettes promote several kinds of cancer including:
-lung-cervix
-pancreas-kidney
-bladder
-Cigarette smoke reduces the activity of immune cells therefore exposing users to more diseases
-Smoking damages the stomach’s ability to neutralize acid after a meal, this leads to excessive acid build up which causes ulcers and cancer.
-Sidestream smoke is the smoke that escapes from the tip of the cigarette and can be as much as half the smoke in a cigarette
-Mainstream smoke is smoke inhaled by the smoker and then exhaled
-Secondhand smoke is a combination of mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke and is inhaled by anyone around the smoker
-3,000 nonsmokers are killed each year in the United States due to secondhand smoke
-Effects of tobacco on an unborn fetus include:
-risk of miscarriage
-risk of premature birth
-low birth weight
-slow growth rate
-Risk of sudden infant death syndrome
-Risk of developing respiratory illness
-Risk of developing learning disabilities
-What makes people want to smoke?
-Family and friends
-Misconceptions
-Advertising
-Curiosity
-Rebellion
-Tobacco use cost the typical family:
-1,500 per year
-lost wages due to illness
-medical bills
-funeral costs
-138 billion dollars a year is the estimated cost smoking causes society
-Nicotine replacement therapy is a form of medicine that delivers a small amount of nicotine to the body to help a person quit smoking
-Reasons to quit smoking include:
-Live longer
-Smell better
-No bad breath
-Whiter teeth
-Taste food better
-Extra money
-Less coughing
-Less dependence on nicotine
-Quitting smoking will reduce your risk of lung cancer by ten times, diminish the threat of emphysema almost completely and decrease the threat of heart disease as well.