Tobacco
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Tobacco; Facts
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<h1> Tobacco
</h1>
Tobacco smoke is made up of thousands of
components, the main
ones being <b>nicotine</b>, <b>tar</b> and
<b>carbon monoxide</b>. Nicotine is the
<a
href="addict.html">addictive</a> agent in tobacco, tar can cause cancers and
bronchial
disorders, and carbon monoxide contributes to heart disease.
<p>
Nicotine is a powerful mood-altering substance which reaches the
brain quickly when you smoke a cigarette.
<p>
<b>Nicotine</b> is also extremely toxic. A dose of about 30 mg can be
fatal. Although an average cigarette contains 15-20 mg
of nicotine, only a fraction is
absorbed by the smoker.<p>
Smokers can control the intake of nicotine
considerably
by adjusting their smoking technique. Long, deep inhalations,
more puffs per cigarette, smoking down to the butt, or blocking
the filter airflow of
an ultra-low-tar brand can increase the
nicotine yield.<p>
<b>Tar</b> is not a single ingredient; it is a dark sticky combination
of
hundreds of chemicals including poisons and cancer-causing
substances. As with
nicotine, the tar
yield of a cigarette can be higher depending on how a cigarette
is smoked.
<p>
<b>Carbon Monoxide (CO)</b> the
poisonous emission from automobile
engines is also formed when tobacco is burned. CO in
smoke
replaces the oxygen in red blood cells, forming carboxyhemoglobin
(COHb). While nicotine causes the heart to work harder, COHb
deprives it of the extra
oxygen this work demands.
Among the chemicals in cigarette smoke are acids,
glycerol,
glycol, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, aliphatic and aromatic
hydrocarbons, phenols, and such corrosive gases as hydrogen
cyanide and nitrogen oxide,
as well as a heavy dose of carbon
monoxide. Heart and circulatory disease, lung and
other cancers,
and emphysema and chronic bronchitis have been linked to some of
these substances
<p>
<h3>Effects of
smoking</h3>
Short-term effects of smoking include a significant increase in
heart rate and a drop in skin temperature. Respiration rate is
also
increased. In novice smokers, diarrhea and vomiting may
occur. Although the central
nervous system is, in fact,
stimulated by smoking, smokers usually feel it relaxes
them.
<p>
Long-term effects are mainly on the bronchopulmonary
and
cardiovascular systems. Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer
(related to 90% of all lung cancer cases). Other factors -
notably industrial
carcinogens (e.g. asbestos) – may be involved,
especially among smokers. An average
smoker is 10 times more
likely to get lung cancer than a non-smoker.
<p>
Smoking is estimated to be responsible for 30% of all cancer
deaths.
It is also associated with cancers of the mouth, throat,
colon, pancreas, bladder,
kidneys, stomach, and cervix, and
related to 75% of chronic bronchitis cases and 80% of
emphysema
cases.
<p>
Tobacco also affects the digestive
system – gastric and duodenal
ulcers are twice as common and twice as likely to cause
death in
smokers as in non-smokers. Skin wounds may heal less quickly in
smokers, partly because smoking depletes the body of vitamin C.
Smokers may also have
less effective immune systems than
non-smokers.
<p>
Tobacco use is associated with 25% to 30% of all cardiovascular
disease. Smokers have a
70% higher rate of coronary heart disease
than non-smokers (it is the major
smoking-related cause of
death), nearly twice the risk of heart attack, and five times
the
risk of stroke.
<p>
The damaging effects of smoking
are often increased by other
factors: for example, the heavy use of such other drugs
as
alcohol with tobacco increases the risk of both tobacco-related
cancer
and other diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
<h3>Women and
tobacco</h3>
Tobacco use during pregnancy increases the risk of such
complications as stillbirths, low birth weights, premature
delivery, miscarriage, and
<b>sudden infant death syndrome</b>. Women
who smoke may also experience
reduced fertility, increased
menstrual disorders, earlier onset of menopause, and an
increased
risk of cervical cancer.
<p>
Women who smoke
and use birth control pills are especially
vulnerable, particularly after age 30. They
are 39 times more
likely to suffer from stroke than non-smokers who do not use the
pill, and are at higher risk of contacting other circulatory
diseases. as
well.
<h3>Nicotine Addiction</h3>
Tobacco use can lead
to physical and psychological dependence on
nicotine, particularly in cigarette
smokers. The United States
Surgeon General’s 1988 report states that "cigarettes
and other
forms of tobacco are just as addicting as heroin and cocaine…."
<p>
People who are physically dependent on tobacco suffer a
withdrawal are:
irritability, anxiety, headaches, sleep
disturbances (insomnia or drowsiness),
difficulty concentrating,
decreased heart rate and increased appetite, and a craving
for
nicotine. These symptoms can last from several days to several
weeks.
However, desire for a cigarette and relapse to smoking can
occur months after quitting,
indicating that, as with other drug
use, factors in addition to physical dependence
play a role in
nicotine addiction. Environmental events or emotional states may
become conditioned signals for cigarette use.
<p>
<h3>Quitting smoking</h3>
Although the majority of smokers want to reduce or stop
smoking,
attempts to do so often fail. The U.S. Surgeon General’s 1988
report states that "…at least 60% of tobacco smokers have tried
to quit at some
time in their lives." Quitting is possible,
however: the majority of people who
have ever smoked give up
cigarettes later in life. Although about 20% of would-be
quitters
stop on their first attempt, most people "give up" several times
before finally stopping for good.
<p>
People who quit
generally achieve the same health levels as
nonsmokers after a few years, especially if
they stop while they
are young. Risk of heart disease drops immediately; risk of
lung
cancer declines more gradually. Some lung disease may not be
completely reversible, but even older lifetime smokers can
benefit significantly from
quitting.<p>
There is no simple "cure" for smoking. It
helps to find a
personal reason. Cutting down or switching to ultra-low-yield
but many people
just change the way they smoke – they take more
or longer puffs – to get the same
effect. Withdrawal symptoms
subside more quickly for smokers who quit all at once than
for
those who gradually cut down.
<p>
Most quitters
stop on their own – sometimes with the help of
books, pamphlets, guides, or videos.
Some prefer group support or
professional counselling from a doctor, a smoking clinic,
or a
local health agency. No single method works for everyone; several
different approaches may have to be tried.
<p>
Nicorette, a
prescription gum containing nicotine, has helped
some people deal with withdrawal
symptoms, particularly those who
are very dependent on nicotine. Other
non-prescription
anti-smoking products have not been shown scientifically to be
effective.
<p>
Many smokers worry about weight gain if
they stop smoking.
Studies show that many of those who quit gain weight, but the
gain is usually only a few kilograms, and can be minimized by
exercising and
eating low-fat foods.
<p>
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(c) 1976
Revised January 1991
Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research
Foundation, Toronto Canada
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