Essay, Research Paper: Effects Of Smoking

According to the American Lung Association, there are
an estimated 50 million people who smoke. For some reason
people just do not fully understand the risks they take by
smoking. Cigarette smoking is a frequent cause for many
health problems with smokers.
To begin with, there are many hazardous ingredients in
cigarette tobacco. Some of the ingredients are poisonous or
addictive. Cigarette smoke produces thousands of chemicals
that are hazardous to a smoker s health. There are over
4000 chemicals produced by a burning cigarette. At least
200 chemicals are known to be poisonous to a persons health.
Though filters help block some of the chemicals, they will
not stop them completely.
Nicotine is an addictive drug and also one of the most
dangerous ingredients in cigarette tobacco. Cigarette
smokers are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes just like
a junkie is addicted to heroin or cocaine. When a person
smokes a cigarette the body reacts immediately to the
chemical nicotine. Nicotine begins to effect a smoker s
blood pressure, the flow of blood from their heart, the
heart beat and breathing rate.
Cigarette smoke also contains carbon monoxide, the same
poisonous gases released from a car exhaust pipe. Carbon
monoxide is a colorless and odorless, highly toxic gas that
reduces the amount of oxygen that the blood can carry.
Combined with the effects produced by the nicotine, it
creates an imbalance in the demand for oxygen by the cells
and the amount of oxygen the blood is able to supply.
Tar is another chemical produced from cigarette smoke.
Tar contains at least 30 cancer causing irritants. Tar is a
mixture of several substances that condense into a sticky
substance on the lung. Tobacco manufactures have produced a
cigarette that is low tar and low nicotine to reduce the
chance of cancer, but these cigarettes are still hazardous.
There are many deadly diseases related to smoking
cigarettes. The respiratory diseases that have been linked
to cigarette smoking are lung cancer, cancer of the larynx,
chronic bronchitis, emphysema and coronary heart disease.
The hazards of these diseases increase with the quantity of
cigarettes smoked and the length of time the habit is
continued.
Smoking related diseases cause the death of more than
400,000 Americans in 1994. Almost everyone knows that
smoking is hazardous to their health and can cause lung
cancer, along with many other diseases. Smoking is
responsible for 30 percent of all cancer deaths annually in
the United States, which totals out at more than 155,000
each year.
In closing, it has been medically proven that
cigarettes have many dangerous effects on a smoker s life.
Even though I knew the effects of smoking, I was unable to
quit smoking until I was about seven years into the habit.
It is a very dangerous substance which may lead to many
hazardous side effects.