According to the world
health organization
That figure far exceedsthat
Cigarette smoking is the
of homicides and
leading preventable
Vehicularaccidents
cause of death,each
combined.
year,globally.
Statistic show that this is
Accounting for over
about onein five deaths
480’000deaths each
annually, or 1,300 deaths
year, including nearly
every day in the United
42,000 deaths resulting
States alone.
from secondhand smoke
exposure.
Cigarettes are badfor Nicotine is a stimulant that provides
your health. temporaryalertness and euphoria,
hence its addictiveness.
Owingto the problem is the fact that
cigarettes are highly addictive and this Once a cigarette is lit thenicotine
can becredited to its content. travels through your bloodstream
and takes about 10 seconds to get
Cigarettes are composed mainly of toyour brain, where it alters your
tobacco and the mostactive and addictive brains chemical composition and its
ingredient in tobacco is nicotine. sideeffects are experienced
Some of which you may alreadybe
Apart from the
familiar with, for example:
highlyaddictive nicotine,
Formaldehyde – the chemical
cigarettes play host to a
used to preserve dead bodies
foray of over 6000
Arsenic – this is the main
toxicchemicals. Including
ingredient in rat poison
over 40 of which have been
Ammonia – used in the production
labeled as carcinogens
of dyes, pesticides andcleaning
andmutagens. These are
agents
direct cancer-causing
Hydrogen cyanide –used in the
agents.
gas chambers for the death penalty
Now, as I stated before Beingable to cause
several cancers and
these chemicals passes
internal dysfunction as
throughyour bloodstream
well as the
which brings it into contact
moreobvious Cosmetic
with every organ inside
and aesthetic damage.
your bodywhich makes it
For example, the
potentially dangerous to
premature wrinkling
every organ within your
ofskin and the loss of
body.
hair and teeth
You may also think that if I step
Not only his cigarette smoking a hazard to outside or go out inthe open, I won't
yourhealth, but also to the health of others be putting anyone else at risk.
and to the environment, through
secondhand and third hand smoking. That's not exactly true,cigarette
smoke attaches itself to hair
Let me explain, secondhand smoking follicles, skin, fabric and etc.
occurs when anon-smoker is directly andwhen persons interact with you,
exposed to cigarette smoke. For example these chemicals become
being smokedaround or being around transferable, resultingin third hand
smokers. smoke, which also damages the
ozone layer.
Quitting is nevereasy, however,
there are products to aid smokers
The best decision throughthis process.
acigarette smoker can
make is to quit. Iknow what For example, the nicotine gum and
you're thinking, that's the patches are sold over thecounter,
hardest thing to do. as well as your doctor may also
advise you on prescription drugs.
As with all habits,quitting is
a difficult step. However There is also aid in the form of
with proper planning, support groups, for example there
motivation andsupport it is is the AddictionAlert Organization –
achievable. which provides confidential support
and counseling toaddicts. They can
be contacted at (876) 967-3777.
Some of the healthbenefits associated
24 hours after quitting
with kicking the habit are:
smoking,your risk for coronary
artery disease will already begin to
Within 20 minutes after your lastcigarette,
reduce. Yourrisk of having a heart
your heart rate will begin to drop back
attack also starts to decline.
toward a normallevel.
After 1 month without cigarettes,the
After 2 hours without a cigarette,your
cilia inside your lungs will begin to
heart rate and blood pressure will be
repair. The cilia are the tiny,hair-like
close to normal levelsagain. Your blood
structures that push mucus out of
circulation will also start to improve.
the lungs. Once the cilia are ableto
Within 12 hours after quittingsmoking, the
do their job efficiently, they can
carbon monoxide in your body decreases
fight off infection and clear the
to lower levels.In turn, the amount of
lungsmore easily. After a year
oxygen in your blood increases to normal
without smoking,your risk for heart
levels.
disease is lowered to half thatof a
smoker’s.
You can quit smoking.
Let us recap before Iconclude.We
discussed theingredients of a cigarette
and its effects on your health and the :C
health ofothers. I spoke about the
advantages of quitting and mediums of
getting assistancewith quitting the habit.
In closing,
