I am here today to teach you about the effects tobacco can have on your mind, body and overall wellness. All types of tobacco are used all over the world, by people of all different ages, genders and races, making it one of the most abused substances on Earth. Scientific research has discovered countless health risks resulting from tobacco use, yet people continue to use it, and probably will for years to come. Today I would like to convince you all that the health risks of tobacco greatly outweigh any benefits you can possibly think of.
Tobacco can be smoked through a cigarette, cigar or pipe. It can be chewed, powdered, or even sniffed. Flavored cigarettes native to India called “Bidis” are becoming increasingly popular as well. What you must realize is that no matter what form tobacco is in, it is still very harmful to your body, and overall wellness.
You see tobacco of all kinds contains chemicals which have been scientifically proven to have negative effects on your health. Over 4,000 harmful chemicals can be found in tobacco smoke alone. Some of these chemicals include tar, carbon monoxide, acetaldehyde, and nitrosamines. Tar is a black, gooey substance that develops in smokers lungs. This tar causes lung cancers, emphysema, and bronchial disease. Carbon monoxide is the same substance found in car exhaust. This substance is highly poisonous to humans, and can cause heart problems. These chemicals are things that people would never knowingly put into their body alone, yet when stored in tobacco, somehow they feel comfortable with it.
One of the most dangerous chemicals in all types of tobacco is nicotine. Nicotine is the chemical in a cigarette that tricks your body into feeling pleasure. Much of the same way that marijuana does, nicotine mimics different neurotransmitters in the brain which trick it into releasing un-natural amounts of dopamine. Dopamine is the chemical in your body that is responsible for producing happy, pleasurable feelings. This is part of what makes nicotine so dangerously addictive. Being addicted to something means that your body becomes accustomed to a chemical so much, that without it your body cannot function properly. Teens are much more susceptible to addiction than adults. People who are addicted to nicotine have a compulsive need to use tobacco, sometimes multiple times in one day. If an addict does not use tobacco over a certain period of time, which may be as short as a few hours, they can begin to experience withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms can include irritability, cognitive and attention deficits, and a craving for nicotine which grows stronger each moment without tobacco. Tobacco becomes a substance to your body much like water. Your body needs water to survive, if you do not have it, you will become thirsty until you do. A person addicted to nicotine feels the same way. When this person does not have nicotine over a certain period of time, they will begin to experience withdrawal symptoms.
People can become addicted to nicotine even after their first use of tobacco, and if they do not become addicted after the first time, the more they smoke following this will make them even more likely to become addicted. Once addicted, a person will most likely turn into a long term user. Long term users of tobacco can develop tolerance. Tolerance is when your body becomes used to a certain substance, therefore more of it is required to produce the same pleasurable feelings. This tolerance, along with addiction, is a deadly combination and makes quitting from tobacco use extremely difficult.
Long term users become victim to many of the different severe health risks that tobacco use can cause. For example, tobacco use has been linked to one-third of all cancer related deaths. Not surprisingly, 90% of all lung cancer cases are linked to tobacco. The overall death rates for smokers are sometimes up to 4 times greater than those who are non-smokers. Think that smoking will only harm you? You are wrong. Second hand smoke, the smoke breathed in from non-smokers while around smokers, can increase a person’s chance of getting heart disease by up to 35%. Children are especially in danger of second hand smoke, and can develop severe asthma or respiratory infections. Overall, second hand smoke results in over 40,000 deaths per year. Pregnant women who smoke put their babies at risk for still death, SIDS, preterm birth, and respiratory problems. Maybe you can live with the fact that by using tobacco you are harming yourself, but what about others that you love?
Hopefully this information will convince you to never start using tobacco. But what about those of you that already smoke that are realizing now that you want to quit? The most effective way to do this is through a combination of behavioral treatment and medication. Behavioral treatment can come in the form of treatment, or therapy. They will teach you to slowly develop other ways to replace what smoking used to do for you. Medications can help you quit by giving you low doses of nicotine to reduce the cravings you may have. Quitting can have immediate health affects for those who smoke. Within just 24 hours of quitting, a person’s blood pressure decreases and they have less risk of a heart attack. In the long run, people who quit will better their chances for living a long and healthy life. If you would like to find out more information, try calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
Tobacco use accounts for 1 in every 6 deaths in the United States, making it more lethal than all addictive drugs combined. Do not set yourself up for a short life controlled by a drug, do the smart thing and don’t start using tobacco, and quit if you already have.
