Abstract
The paper will discuss on how smoking hinders breathing problem.
Introduction
Cigarettes have been proven to damage health. They cause heart disease and lung cancer, for which there are no cures. The health of non-smokers can also be damaged by breathing in other peoples smoke.
Body
Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of illness and death in the United States .Evidence of the health risks of smoking first appeared in the 1930s. Another thirty years passed before the government actually began systematic research. Currently, about 450,000 people die prematurely each year as a result of the effects of cigarette smoking.
Physically, smoking has some very direct effects on the efficiency of oxygen absorption. The carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke is more readily absorbed by the hemoglobin molecules in the red blood cells than is oxygen. The interaction of oxygen and carbon monoxide produces carboxyhemoglobin. This form of hemoglobin cannot carry oxygen. Therefore, less oxygen is circulated in the blood when you smoke. The tar found in the residue of cigarette smoke coats the lining of the air sacks in the lungs, further decreasing the amount of oxygen delivered to the body and brain. These factors combine to cause the classic smoker’s shortness of breath. The tars and radioactive substances in cigarette smoke also combine to produce one-third of all cancer deaths. Chronic smoking contributes to increased chances of heart disease by inhibiting the production of a cholesterol removing enzyme and interferes with its ability to clear excess cholesterol from the artery walls and deliver it to the liver where it is metabolized into bile and eliminated from the body through the digestive tract.
The effects of tobacco smoke on the respiratory system include:
- Irritation of the trachea (windpipe) and larynx (voice box).
- Reduced lung function and breathlessness due to swelling and narrowing of the lung airways and excess mucus in the lung passages.
- Impairment of the lungs’ clearance system, leading to the build up of poisonous substances, which results in lung irritation and damage.
- Increased risk of lung infection and symptoms such as coughing and wheezing.
- Permanent damage to the air sacs of the lungs.
The health hazards of smoking have been widely publicized. The effect of public notices have resulted in a restriction placed on advertising and the banning of smoking in public areas including elevators, hospitals, theaters, restaurants and aircraft.
When smoke comes into contact with the mucous membranes of the vocal cords it irritates and tends to dry them out and increase the likelihood of developing constrictions. Morgado et al have recently investigatedthe acute effect of oxygen breathing on the vascular regulationof retinal blood flow in smokers before and after smoking. Theeffects of smoking on the circulation, especially the microcirculation,are based on various mechanisms. An increased intake of carbonmonoxide leads to an increased level of carboxyhemoglobin inthe blood of smokers thus reducing the affinity of the hemoglobinfor oxygenthat is, the ability to bind oxygen (1993).
Nicotine has a direct effect on the vascular system in smokers. In low concentrations nicotine causes an excitation of sympatheticand parasympathetic ganglia. The effect on sympathetic gangliaprevails. Direct stimulation of sympathetic ganglia leads to anincrease of the heart rate and the total peripheral resistancedue to vasoconstriction. Furthermore, it causes a stimulationof the adrenal glands: the release of noradrenalin contributesto the increase of the peripheral resistance and heart rate.
The constant assault of cigarette smoke wears away cilia, the tiny hair like structures that line the lungs’ air passages and sweep out foreign material trapped inside by mucus. Without this cleaning mechanism, the lungs are particularly vulnerable to compounds brought into air passages. Most lung cancers crop up in the cells that are directly exposed to inhaled air. People who smoke or who live with a smoker breathe air that may harbor more than 50 cancer-fostering chemicals, including benzopyrene and formaldehyde, as well as a radioactive compound called polonium-2 I 0.
The risk of developing breathing problems which some results in lung cancer increases with the number of cigarettes smoked and the number of years of smoking. People who smoke filtered low-tar cigarettes may have a somewhat lower lung cancer risk than those who smoke regular cigarettes. However, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), people may smoke more cigarettes if the nicotine content is reduced (as it is in low-tar cigarettes), so these smokers still have a substantial risk of lung cancer. Cigar and pipe smoking can also boost the risk of developing lung cancer, but because people usually inhale less smoke with this type of tobacco use, it is not as high a lung cancer risk as cigarette smoking. However, these forms of smoking, as well as chewing tobacco, cause other types of cancer. The tobacco smoke nonsmokers breathe, also called secondhand smoke,” has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as one of the most dangerous environmental contaminants.
When a person smokes the tar gunk’s up the cilia in the lungs so that they can no longer sweep out the excess mucus and germs. This is why smokers suffer from more colds and respiratory infections than non-smokers. People who have lung diseases may not be able to take a deep breath. Everyday activities are all very difficult whey you can’t breathe deeply.
Smoking not only causes cancers of the respiratory system, it also multiplies the risk of cervical cancer by 4 times, doubles the risk of breast and stomach cancers and is considered to be responsible for 40% of bladder and kidney cancers. It raises the risk of cancer of the larynx by 25 to 30 times. And chewing tobacco increases, by 27 times, the risk of cancer of the mouth, lips, cheeks, tongue and tonsils. In addition, smokers have four times the risk of heart disease plus twice the risk of stroke. Second hand smoke is particularly dangerous for children of smokers, increasing coughs, bronchitis and pneumonia by 6 times. And, children born to smokers have a much greater risk of unhealthy low birth weight, as well as increased ear infections.
Smoking also wrinkles skin and yellows teeth, making smokers look a lot older than their age. And women smokers experience menopause 5 to 10 years sooner, greatly increasing the risk of early osteoporosis.
The dangers of tobacco are not just related to accelerated aging, poor health and death. Smoking is the leading cause of fire, causing millions of dollars in property damages every year. Tobacco also takes a toll on the family’s pocketbook, since a one pack a day habit costs about a thousand dollars annually. And that’s not counting all the other extra expenses, including doctor bills and lost sick days from work.
Contrary to much popular opinion (promoted by advertising, movies and TV), smoking is neither sexy nor cool. The smoker’s house, car, clothes, hair and breath smell very bad to anyone who has not lost their sense of smell due to smoking. Remember the expression, “Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray.”
Smoking Hurts Your Health
The best-known effect of smoking is that it causes breathing difficult which results from cancer. Smoking can also aggravate many problems that people with diabetes already face, such as heart and blood vessel disease.
Smoking increases your cholesterol levels and the levels of some other fats in your blood, raising your risk of a heart attack.
Tobacco smoke contains dangerous chemicals which affects our respiratory system. The most damaging compounds in tobacco smoke include:
- Tar – this is the collective term for all the various particles suspended in tobacco smoke. The particles contain chemicals including several cancer-causing substances. Tar is sticky and brown and stains teeth, fingernails and lung tissue. Tar contains the carcinogen benzopyrene that is known to trigger tumor development (cancer).
- 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 complicated protein called hemoglobin; oxygen molecules are transported around the body by binding to, or hanging onto, this protein. However, carbon monoxide has a greater affinity than oxygen for binding to hemoglobin. This means that the heart of a smoker has to work much harder to get enough oxygen to 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 oxidizing 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, which are known to be carcinogenic.
Passive smoking is the involuntary breathing of other people’s tobacco smoke. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or second-hand smoke is a complex mixture of more than 4,000 chemical compounds, including at least 40 known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents). Tobacco smoke also contains carbon monoxide, a gas that inhibits the blood’s ability to carry oxygen to body tissues including vital organs such as the brain and heart. For young children, the major source of tobacco smoke is smoking by parents and other household members. Maternal smoking is usually the largest source of ETS because of the cumulative effect of exposure during pregnancy and close proximity to the mother during early life.
Children are particularly susceptible to the effects of passive smoking. Their bronchial tubes are smaller and their immune systems are less developed, making them more likely to develop respiratory and ear infections when exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. Because they have smaller airways, children breathe faster than adults and consequently breathe in more harmful chemicals per pound of their weight than an adult would in the same amount of time.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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