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Assessing Health Problem caused by smoking

Fot u person who likes to have the feeling of a good tasteful cigarette early
morning, after a meal or at any time of the day maybe just to relax, health problems
caused by smoking does not affect them. But do this people really know and
understand what they do to their health by smoking? Tobacco contains nicotine, a
highly addictive drug that makes it difficult for smokers to leave the habit. Tobacco
products contain also many poisonous and harmful substances that cause disease and
premature death. Smoking is ultimately a choice; it is each person's responsibility to
choose whether or not they will continue to smoke. Although smokers may not think
about the risks every time they smoke, smoking is not only dangerous, it is positively
life threatening. By using tobacco products, people are likely to was rs of their
lifespan and setting up for serious future health problems. This artWe provides a brief
summary of the risks associated with smoking the influence of my'otine addiction, heart
disease, caneer and the effect of smoking in pregnancy.

It's not new to people that smoking is a danger to health, but still many choose to
ignore the hazard and continue smoking. Although some smokers are in denial about
the risks associated with smoking, the majority of smokers continue because it is
difficult to stop. Many smokers are literally addicted to nicotine and hnd it easier to
continue the habit than try to quit.
According to the German Cancer Association the key substance in tobacco is alkaloid
nicotine therefore tobacco dependence in such way specified is in reality a nicotine
dependence. For the human organism nicotine is high poisonous. Already 60 Milligram
pure nicotine can be deadly for adults. Within less than 10 seconds nicotine gets
through the lung into the brain, there it releases a feeling of pleasant stimulation and
when consumed in larger amount it provides even a relaxing effect and that what
makes an addiction. The difficulty is that very soon smokers believe notp be able to
relax without the effect of nicotine anymore. So they smoke cigarettes ip{order to solve
a tension, which without nicotine would not even have developed. /'

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Evidence for that show an experiment were smokers without their knowledge were
several weeks supplied with cigarettes, which were either strong or weakly nicotine
containing so Schachter. They did not know, whether they smoked light or strong
cigarettes, but they reacted unintentionally in their behavior on this hidden difference.
From the light cigarettes they smoked on the average 25o/o more than from the stronger
cigarettes. Another experiment from the same author counted the number of the puffs
which smokers took of both kinds of cigarettes, and stated that more courses were
smoked, if the cigarettes were poor in nicotine. That experiment confirms that smoking
serves alone the maintenance of a certain nicotine level in the body.

Miller CH., Burgoon M., Grandpre & Schumann A., Hapke U., Meyer C. claim/ that
smoking has a psychological and physical role in our society. In most cases people
start smoking when they are in their adolescence. The motives to smoke are frequentiy
linked to stress, curiosity, peer pressure, integration in groups, for pleasure, as pure
habit and also availability and costs are facts that influence the consumption. The
mixture of psychological and physiological effects provides many positive
reinforcements that smoking quickly becomes an established habit. The situations and
activities associated with smoking together with the smoker's mood and psychological
state become linked with its rewards and with the relief of withdrawal. They come to
serye as signals for the urge or craving for nicotine's effects (for example, after meals,
with coffee or alcohol, when meeting people, during work, driving in the car, talking
on the phone, when anxious, angry, celebrating, or having a well-earned break, and so
on).
According to Di Chiara G, Imperato A. Balfour DJ. Dani JA, Heinemann S. and
Corrigall WA, Franklin KB, Coen KM the crucial place for the role of nicotine in the r
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body is flhe reward center" of the brain, the Nucleus accumbens, which forms a part of II
the mesolimbic system. Nicotine leads to an increased intemal-synaptic concentration A
of Dopamine. The body gets accustomed quickly to the effects released by nicotine and .v'j'r
after some time nicotine become a usual need. The doses must be increased in order to
obtain the pleasant stimulating effect. If the doses fall below a certain level, the smoker .t,l\
has to face withdrawal symptoms just to mention a view like cravings, irritable,
cranky, insomnia, fatigue, inability to concentrate, headache. Only by regular supply of
the next cigarette symptoms like those mentioned can be avoided.
The American Cancer Society connected smoking also to heart disease because
nicotine damages the cardiovascular system and cell functions, it accelerates the
hardening and narrowing process in arteries and can create thromboses, impact
accumulations, cardiac infarcts which are to due a blood circulation lacking. But
according to the Honolulu-Heart research done by Abbott, Yin, Reed & Yano in which
over 8.000 men in a period of 12 years were observed was discovered that the
connection of smoking with cardiovascular diseases is actually less than with cancer
illnesses. Smokers suffered about three times more an impact accumulation as among
 lur
the nonsmokers. Therefore the risk for cardiovascular illnesses is clearly smaller than
for lung disease.
Another health concern in industrialized countries is that "smoking is probably the
most important avoidable single cause for premature death" says McGinnis,
Richmond, Brandt, Windom & Mason. Approximately I 10,000 humans beings per
year die at tobacco diseases in Germany according to Peto, Lopez, Boreham, Thun &
Heath. Based on the data of the American Cancer Society smoking is for
approximately 30o/o of all cancer-deaths per year (75% to 80% are death of lungs-
cancer) responsible. For the accurate height of health risks cost by smoking different
information are presented. Lubin wrote about that the relative risk to get sick with lung
cancer of smokers is about nine times higher than with nonsmokers. Also with other
kind of tumors in particular within the range of oral, the larynx and the esophagus is
the number of deaths rates of smokers clearly higher than with nonsmokers states
Fielding.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains when people think of cancer
caused by smoking, the first one that comes to their mind is always lung cancer. Most
cases of lung cancer death, close to 90Yo in men, and 80o/o in women are caused by
cigarette smoking. There are as well several other forms of cancer attributed to
smoking and they include pharynx, bladder, stomach, cervix, kidney and pancreas, and
acute myeloid leukemia. The list of additives allowed in the manufacture of cigarettes
consists of 599 possible ingredients. When burned, cigarette smoke contains over 4000
chemicals, with over 40 of them being known carcinogens. Lung cancer is the leading
cause of cancer death, and cigarette smoking causes most cases. In2003, an estimated
17l,9AA new cases of lung cancer occurred and approximately 157,200 people died
from lung cancer.
In January 2008 Claudia Wiistenhagen stated the fact that pregnant woman who
consume cigarettes and continue smoking has a very negative effect on the unbom
child. The body of a mother offers protection to an unborn baby and supplies it with
everything which is necessary for his development (in the ideal case). In addition, this
body can become also a trap for the unborn. For example, if the pregnant woman
smokes. Unprotected the baby is conflicted with the poison of the mother. The fact that
that is harmful is written on many cigarette boxes. However, studies show that every
fourth pregnant woman smokes. An investigation of the University of Greifswald in
Mecklenburg- Vorpommern Germany came to the result that 40 per cent of women
continued smoking although they expected a child and they knew the side effects. Hans
Josef Bohles President of the German society for child and youth medicine has
therefore clear words:

"Smoking in the pregnancy is a form of child abusing".

According to a study of the University of Bristol smoking is in and after the pregnancy
the main risk for sudden child death. Smoker babies are smaller and have less weight.
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On the one hand the Carbon monoxide in smoke displaces the oxygen in the blood and
on the other hand blood vessels are getting smaller which leads to the fact that less
oxygen gets to the unborn child,

"That is almost like someone would intemrpt the airflow to a diver under water"

says Ekkehart Paditz chairman of the association baby assistance Germany n.d.
Smoking not only leads to neurological damage to the baby's brain, also to a smaller
brain substance, which can impair the intelligence of the child. Besides speaking &
behavior disturbances, hyperactivity is a possible consequence of smoking, just like
asthma, lung infections and false formations at fingers, hands or legs. Even the sperm
quality of a man is affected negatively, if the mother smoked in pregnancy. A pregnant
woman who smokes, risks besides an early birth or death birth also a miscaffie. Also
might a separation of the Placenta and a smaller birth weight of the child gtn occur.2l
cigarettes a the day reduces the weight of the newborn child by approximately 350
gram to do the oxygen deficiency, says Ekkehart Paditz.

So therefore according to all this evidence provided through Doctors, Scientists,

Researchers and so on I come to the conclusion that smoking has a very strong
influence on peoples health even to those who don't smoke because always smokers
will be around non-smokers. And as most of the smokers know that it is a bad habit I
only can apply to people who are getting in contact with cigarettes or are in permanent
contqgt of them, to think twice when using them. Consider the consequences which
,oo#3.later most of the smokers will pay Uy inlating that poisonou, ,-otpf-
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Works Cited

Abbott, R., Yin, Y., Reed, D. & Yano, K. (1986). Risk of stroke in male cigarette
smokers.New England Journal of Medicine, 315,717-720.

American Cancer Society, 1989

http ://www. lungusa.org/site/c.dvLUK9OOE/b. 3 98 53I #one

Balfour DJ. Neural mechanisms underlying nicotine dependence.

Addiction 1994; 89 : | 419-1423

Corrigall WA, Franklin KB, Coen KM et al. The mesolimbic dopaminergic

system is implicated in the reinforcing effects of nicotine. Psychopharmacology
(Berl) 1992; fi7: 285-289

Claudia Wiistenhagen. "Rauchen-Schwangerschaft" Stern Jannuary, 1 6,200 8.

December,05,2008 <http ://www. stern.de/wissenschaftl medizin/ :Rauchen-
Schwangerschaft-G ewYoF Crzgurken-Glimmst%E4ngel/60 800 1 .html#>

German Cancer Association. (2008) smoking and the risks. Germany

Dani JA, Heinemann S. Molecular and cellular aspects of nicotine abuse.

Neuron 1996: 16: 905-908

Di Chiara G, Imperato A. Drugs abused by humans preferentially increase

synaptic dopamine concentrations in the mesolimbic system
of freely moving rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1988; 85: 5274-5278

Fielding, J. E. (1985). Smoking: Health effects and control. New England Journal of
Medicine, 3 13, 491 -498, 5 55-56 1 .

Lubin, J., Blot, W., Berrino, F., Flamant, R. et al. (1984). Patterns of lung cancer
according to type of cigarette smokers. International Journal of Cancer, 33,569-
576.

McGinnis, M., Richmond, J., Brandt, E., Windofl, R. & Mason, J. O. (1992). Health
progress in the United States: Results of the 1990 objectives for the nation.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 268, 2545-2552.

Miller CH, Burgoon M, Grandpre JR et al. Identiffing principal risk

factors for the initiation of adolescent smoking behaviors: the significance
of psychological reactance. Health Commun 2006; 19:241252
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Schachter, S. (1980). Urinary pH and the psychology of nicotine addiction. In P.

Davidson & S. Davidson (Eds.), Behavioral medicine (pp. 70-93). New York:
Bruner/Mazel.

Schumann A, Hapke U, Meyer C et'bl. Prevalenc e, characteristics, associated

mental disorders andpredictors of DSM-IV nicotine dependence.
Eur Addict Res 2004; fi:29-34

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008

hup://www.hhs.gov/

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