Everyone understands that wanting to smoke a cigarette feels like a grown up thing to do. What’s more it looks like an appealing habit to pick up. Before you do however, have you ever considered what actually goes into a cigarette?
Nicotine is the first thing that comes to mind, isn’t it? But did you know that it is an addictive drug in the cigarette that causes smokers to continue and increase the amount of cigarettes they smoke? Addicted smokers require a certain level of nicotine in blood to ‘feel normal’ – to satisfy cravings or control their mood. Nicotine in small doses act as a brain stimulant and in large doses as a depressant! This inhibits the signals between nerve cells and can have lethal effects on the heart, blood vessels, and hormones. Nicotine in the bloodstream acts to make the smoker feel calm, but does damage your body at the same time.
Did you know for instance, that cigarette smoke alone contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds and 400 other toxins?Here are just some of those elements:
•Tar – this is the collective term for the various particles suspended in tobacco smoke. The particles contain chemicals, including several cancer-causing substances (carcinogens). Tar is sticky, brown in colour, stains teeth, fingernails and lung tissue. Tar contains the carcinogen benzopyrene.
• Carbon Monoxide – this odorless gas is fatal in large doses because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood. Each red blood cell contains a protein called hemoglobin that transports oxygen molecules around the body. However, carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin better than oxygen. In response, the body makes more red blood cells to carry the oxygen it needs, but it makes the blood thicker. This means that when the body demands more oxygen during exercise, less oxygen reaches the brain, heart, muscles and other organs.
• Hydrogen Cyanide – the lungs contain tiny hairs (cilia) that help to clean the lungs by moving foreign substances out. Hydrogen cyanide stops this lung clearance system from working properly, which means the poisonous chemicals in tobacco smoke can build up inside the lungs. Other chemicals in smoke that damage the lungs include hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, organic acids, phenols and oxidizing agents.
• Oxidizing Chemicals – these highly reactive chemicals (which include free radicals) can damage the heart muscles and blood vessels. They react with cholesterol, leading to the build-up of fatty material on artery walls. Their actions lead to heart disease, stroke and blood vessel disease.
• Metals – tobacco smoke contains dangerous metals including arsenic, cadmium and lead. Several of these metals are carcinogenic.
• Radioactive Compounds – tobacco smoke contains radioactive compounds that are known to be carcinogenic.
As a cigarette is smoked, the quantity of tar inhaled into the lungs increases.
You should also know that the last puff contains more than twice as much tar as the first puff. Most of the chemicals inhaled in cigarette smoke will stay in your lungs. This means that the more you inhale, and the greater the damage to your lungs!
Here’s what you need to take out of all of this – smoking affects almost every organ in your body, but it’s never too late or impossible to stop!
The tobacco industry thrives when we continue to purchase and smoke cigarettes – but they keep losing half their customers each year due to lung cancer and other grave respiratory disorders leading to death. This means they work very hard to catch newer generations (youth) to get into the habit of smoking so that they can continue to drive sales.
This is why they make cigarette smoking seem inviting and exhilarating. They also create iconic characters – take the Marlboro Man for instance. But did you know that he too died of lung cancer at the age of 51? His last words still echo with us– “Take care of the children! Tobacco will kill you, I am living proof of that!”
- 80% of smokers start in their teens
- €635 million is spent on advertising each year to bring in new smokers, influenced to start by the movies.
- In Sri Lanka, the government revenue from tobacco tax alone accounted to Rs. 73.6 billion in 2014!. So imanging the danger we are encountering
• reduced lung function and breathlessness due to swelling and narrowing of the lung airways and excess mucus in the lung passages
• impairment of the lungs’ clearance system, leading to the build-up of poisonous substances, which results in lung damage
• increased risk of lung infection with symptoms such as coughing and wheezing
• Permanent damage to the air sacs of the lungs.
• constriction (tightening) of blood vessels in the skin, resulting in a drop in skin temperature
• less oxygen carried by the blood during exercise
• ‘stickier’ blood, which is more prone to clotting
• damage to the lining of the arteries, which is thought to be a contributing factor to atherosclerosis (the build-up of fatty deposits on the artery walls)
• reduced blood flow to extremities (fingers and toes).
• Increased risk of stroke and heart attack due to blockages of the blood supply.
• greater susceptibility to infections such as pneumonia and influenza
• more severe and longer-lasting illnesses
• Lower levels of protective antioxidants (such as vitamin C), in the blood.
The effects of tobacco smoke on the musculoskeletal system
• tightening of certain muscles
• Reduced bone density.
The effects of tobacco smoke on the male body
• lower sperm count
• higher percentage of deformed sperm
• genetic damage to sperm
• Impotence, which may be due to the effects of smoking on blood flow and damage to the blood vessels of the penis.
The effects of tobacco smoke on the female body
• reduced fertility
• menstrual cycle irregularities or absence of menstruation
• menopause reached one or two years earlier
• increased risk of cancer of the cervix
• Greatly increased risk of stroke and heart attack if the smoker is aged over 35 years and taking the oral contraceptive pill.
• irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines
• increased risk of painful ulcers along the digestive tract
• reduced sense to smell and taste
• premature wrinkling of the skin
• higher risk of blindness
• Gum disease (periodontitis).
If you are a smoker and feel like you want to quit, don’t worry because help is always at hand. Any of the following options will be able to help you anonymously:
• Your doctor
• Yourlocal health service centre
• Your teacher or a student counselor
• Or call the National Quit line on 1948 where anonymous counselors will talk with you, provide some healthy guidelines and help you understand your situation.