Cigarette Smoke - Environmental Tobacco Smoke, The Health Consequences Of Tobacco Use, Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, Lung Disease - Components of cigarette smoke
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has named tobacco one of the greatest public health threats of the twenty-first century. As of 2001, more than 1.2 billion people worldwide smoke, and 3.5 million people are expected to die from causes directly related to tobacco use. This death rate is expected to rise to 10 million by the year 2030. Seventy percent of these deaths will occur in developing countries where the proportion of smokers is growing, particularly among women. Calling tobacco "a global threat," WHO says these figures do not include the enormous physical, emotional, and economic costs associated with disease and disability caused by tobacco use.
In the United States alone, 25.2 million men, 23.2 million women, and 4.1 million teens between 12 and 17 years of age smoke. Every day, more than three million youths under the age of 18 begin smoking. The gruesome statistics show that more than five million children alive today will die prematurely because, as adolescents, they decided to use tobacco. Nationally, one in five of all deaths is related to tobacco use. It kills more than 430,000 people every year—more than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, automobile accidents, murders, suicides, and fires combined. Five million years of potential life is lost every year due to premature death caused by tobacco use. Medical costs total more than $50 billion annually, and indirect cost another $50 billion.
Of the 4,000 or more different chemicals present in cigarette smoke, 60 are known to cause cancer and others to cause cellular genetic mutations that can lead to cancer. Cigarette smoke contains nicotine (a highly addictive chemical), tars, nitrosamines, and polycyclic hydrocarbons, all of which are carcinogenic. It also contains carbon monoxide which, when inhaled, interferes with transportation and utilization of oxygen throughout the body.
Additional Topics
Cigarette smoke is called mainstream smoke when inhaled directly from a cigarette. Sidestream smoke is smoke emitted from the burning cigarette and exhaled by the smoker. Sidestream smoke is also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or secondhand smoke. Inhalation of ETS is known as passive smoking. In 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified ETS as a Group A (known human) ca…
Cardiovascular disease, or diseases of the blood vessels and heart, includes stroke, heart attack, peripheral vascular disease, and aortic aneurysm. In 1990 in the United States, one fifth of all deaths due to cardiovascular disease were linked to smoking. Specifically, 179,820 deaths from general cardiovascular disease, 134,235 deaths from heart disease, and 23,281 deaths from cerebrovascular dis…
For the 40 years prior to 1987, breast cancer was the leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. In 1987, lung cancer took the lead. As well as increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, women smokers are at increased risk of osteoporosis (a disease in which bones become brittle and vulnerable to breakage), cervical cancer, and decreased fertility. Pregnant women hav…
In 1992, the Surgeon General of the United States declared nicotine to be as addictive as cocaine. An article published in the December 17, 1997 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute stated nicotine addiction rates are higher than for alcohol or cocaine—that of all people trying only one cigarette, 33-50% will ultimately become addicted. The article concluded that simply kno…
In 1998, a $206 billion settlement from tobacco companies to 46 states included a ban on all outdoor advertising of tobacco products. In 1999, the CDC appropriated more than $80 million to curtail tobacco use among young people. Coordinated education and prevention programs through schools have lowered the onset of smoking by 37% in seventh-grade students alone. By educating today's youth t…
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