In the early 1930s, health practitioners were wary of the effects of tobacco. Wherein 1944 the American Cancer Society began issuing warnings to smokers. Researchers began to investigate the long-term health implications of smoking; although it would be some time before a definitive link was proved. In 1952, Reader’s Digest published a landmark article about the dangers of smoking; titled “Cancer by Carton.” This widely read piece of journalism once again changed the direction of the tobacco industry.
To keep customers from purchasing their products, tobacco industry veterans began their decades of efforts to move smoking out of the public health sector and into medicine. Crazy Men fans will be familiar with the advertising industry’s efforts to hide negative scientific evidence from the public. Sadly, these episodes were based on actual events.
The clever advertising strategy involves alignment with physicians, reinforcing the notion that smoking was a healthy habit. Physicians regularly appeared in advertisements, and some doctors bribed them with free compartments, even prescribed cigarette smoking for certain illnesses. Smoking was not unnatural for weight control and relaxation, even for pregnant women.
Ultimately, the documented health risks caught up with the tobacco industry, but did not fill the pockets of distributors and farmers before decades of profits. In 1964, the US Surgeon General released damaging findings from the first government-approved study of cigarette smoking. The report has clearly linked smoking to certain cancers and many other health disorders, effectively removing the issue from advertisers’ hands and back into the public health sector. The report marked nearly fifty years of regulation of the tobacco industry, beginning with labeling laws and restrictions on advertising. Despite frequent public awareness campaigns, industry competitors can still market cigarettes, but only under government scrutiny.
CDC Reports Worst Estimations
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 18.1% of adults, or 42.1 million people, are frequent smokers. Every day more than 3,200 under-age smokers come to light for the first time. And, arguably worse, estimates suggest that every day 2,100 youth and young adults who smoke occasionally become daily smokers.
Tobacco companies grow in multibillion-dollar advertising campaigns, with sales of approximately 300 billion cigarettes per year in the US alone. Fortunately, increased public awareness in the US has led to widespread restrictions on smoking in public places, and the release of a wealth of options and assistance for smokers.
Health Hazard
Adverse health effects from tobacco use are well documented. According to the US Surgeon General, ten times more Americans died prematurely from smoking cigarettes than in all the wars fought in American history. Smoking can damage every organ in the human body, and it can directly lead to death from heart disease, cancer, or stroke. Cancer is a distant and most common diagnosis; The us Smoking can account for 90% of lung cancer deaths.
Chronic diseases such as obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders. These are also conclusively tied to smoking. Women are at particular risk and may experience difficulties with conception or pregnancy.
Cancer
One third of all cancer deaths in the US are related to smoking. Although this habit is most often associated with lung cancer. Consumption of tobacco can cause cancer anywhere in the human body. The 2014 report by the US Surgeon General, The Health Concept of Smoking of 50 Years of Progress, identified smoking as a direct cause of liver and colorectal cancer. Evidence suggests a causal link between breast and prostate cancer, but it has not yet been conclusively proven. However, it is established that smokers increase the risk of dying from any cancer; compared to their non-smoking neighbors. Quitting smoking improves the survival of any cancer patient. According to research by the National Cancer Institute, quitting smoking until the age of 30 reduces the overall chance of smoking deaths by 90%. The rate is 50% for those who quit at the age of about 50.
Heart Disease
Stroke and coronary heart disease, both of which can result from smoking, are the leading causes of death in the United States. Cigarette smokers are likely to develop heart disease at some point in life. Smoking damages blood vessels by thinning their walls, which can result in narrower passages that obstruct blood flow to the heart. Over time, it can cause blood pressure, clot formation and damage to the heart muscle. Peripheral arteries can also be affected, and the likelihood of aortic aneurysm increases in smokers. Finally, smokers experience heart attacks and strokes at much higher rates than non-smokers.
Pulmonary Disease
Because cigarette smoke goes directly into the lungs, tobacco has an immediate negative effect on the respiratory system. Cigarettes contain about 600 ingredients in addition to nicotine, many of which are toxic. These poisons not only displace oxygen but also impair the lungs’ ability to remove harmful particles. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which manifests in shortness of breath, restricted airflow and sputum production, affects 20% of all smokers and 50% of lifelong smokers. Victims of COPD almost always suffer from emphysema and bronchitis, described below:
Causes emphysema the small air sac is tasked to deteriorate with oxygen. Once these sacs lose their elasticity; the expansion and contraction necessary for optimal lung function is compromised.
Chronic bronchitis occurs; when narrow ducts in the lining of the lungs, called bronchia. These are inflamed with irritation and damage. Over time, breathing becomes restricted as bronchia loses its ability to transport oxygen.
The American Lung Association reports that COPD and other chronic lung diseases make up 73% of smoking-related diseases in the United States. Some of these other diseases are associated with smoking including pneumonia, asthma, and tuberculosis.
Reproductive Effect
Although it was not studied as early as other known consequences of smoking. It is now understood that smoking poses a particular; threat to pregnant women and fetuses. From conception during delivery, there is a risk throughout the reproductive cycle when a woman smokes. Cigarette smokers have more difficulty conceiving a baby, and are more likely to have a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy or uterine rupture. Pregnant women who smoke should also consider the effects on their infants; as anything that circulates in the pregnant mother’s bloodstream is also transported to the womb with nicotine. People exposed to toxins in cigarettes tamper with the oxygen supply and are at risk of complications:
- Increased Heart Rate
- Miscarriage or fetal death
- Birth defect
- respiratory illness
- Premature and / or low birth weight
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
- Autoimmune disorder and other chronic disease
Recently, smoking has been connected to disorders of the autoimmune system. When this system malfunctions, the body accidentally attacks healthy tissue as if it were an alien invader. Serious and chronic diseases can occur, such as Crohn’s disease, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Smoking leads the likelihood of these diagnoses and also put against treatment efficacy. Many other serious health conditions have been linked to smoking; either as a contributing cause or as a factor that makes treatment more difficult. Other health problems related to smoking include diabetes, cataract and other vision problems, osteoporosis, and dental problems.
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