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Smoking
Nicotine
Benefits of Quitting Smoking
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Zyban
Smoking
Smoking-related diseases account for approximately 440,000
American deaths every year. This number includes both the
direct effects of smoking on the smoker, but also indirect
effects of smoking, such as premature births and the effects
of secondhand smoke. The costs are enormous. Estimates of the
costs of smoking, both in terms of health care costs and costs
related to lost productivity, are between 100-150 billion
dollars each year. Smoking is the cause of the majority of
cases of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and accounts for
almost 90% of all cases of lung cancer.
Why cigarettes cause disease
Cigarette smoke is composed of many substances that negatively
affect many parts of the body. The tar in cigarettes refers to
the condensed solid particles in smoke. It contains over 4,000
known chemicals. These include poisons and over 50 cancer
causing substances, many of which have been strongly connected
to a variety of diseases. Some of the chemicals and poisons in
cigarette smoke include:
These compounds have been
directly linked to the development of heart and circulatory
disease, lung and other cancers, emphysema and chronic
bronchitis.
The instant that cigarette smoke reaches the lips, it begins
to attack the living cells of the body. The attack doesn't
stop there, but does damage everywhere it reaches. Cigarette
smoke damages the:
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mouth
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tongue
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throat
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lungs
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stomach
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esophagus
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air passages
The poisons in cigarette smoke
don't stop there. They go on to damage the:
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breast
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colon
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cervix
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bladder
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pancreas
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kidneys
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention offer excellent information about
smoking, tobacco
use and smoking cessation resources. Quitnet is an
excellent online aid for all aspects of
quitting
smoking. |
