SMOKINGChapter 16

WHY DO TEENS START?

Friends – Teens with friends who smoke are more likely to pick up the habit, conversely, teens with friends who don’t smoke are more likely to never start Peer pressure

Family – If family members (especially parents) smoke, teens are at higher risk for starting Behavior may be seen as “adult” and

commonly accepted by adults Media – many tobacco ads are directed

towards teens and kids as well as anti-tobacco ads Anti-tobacco campaigns have a hard time

fighting the $15 billion tobacco ad industry Truth Campaign does a pretty good job of

relating the anti-smoking message to your generation

TOBACCO PRODUCTS

Cigarettes – preserved, shredded tobacco leaves

Bidis – Imported Indian cigarettes wrapped in a tobacco leaf

Kreteks – Imported Indonesian clove cigarettes

Cigar and Pipe tobacco – contains more tar and nicotine than cigarette tobacco

Smokeless tobacco – Dip (aka Chewing tobacco) – poor-

quality tobacco leaves mixed with flavoring, preservatives and chemicals, placed between gum and teeth

Snuff – finely ground powdery tobacco, either placed between gum and teeth or sniffed through the nose

Both are also referred to as “Spitting tobacco” because of the excessive black, tar-like spit that is produced

TACTICS CIGARETTE CORPS USE Humor Slogans or Jingles Testimonials by “Satisfied

Customers” Attractive Models Positive Images such as

exercising or laughing with friends

Bandwagon Approach – “everyone else is, so why don’t you?”

Appeal to the senses – exciting scenery, colors, music, flavors, smells

Price Appeal Big Tobacco shells out $40 million

PER DAY to convince you to buy their product

NICOTINE AND THE BODY Nicotine is a stimulant and

increases activity of the nervous system

Short term effects: Increase heart rate Increased blood pressure Causes immediate changes in

brain chemistry First time uses experience

nicotine poisoning Rapid pulse, clammy skin,

nausea, dizziness Habitual users activate a part

of their brain associated with reward and pleasure These feelings last about 30

minutes, then lead to withdrawal

NICOTINE ADDICTION Smokers quickly become dependent on nicotine for

feelings of pleasure and alertness Teens become addicted faster than ay other age group

partially due to an physically under-developed brain Tolerance occurs when the brain requires more and more

drug (nicotine) to get the same feelings of pleasure and stimulation

Withdrawal symptoms: Agitation, irritability, headaches, hunger, difficulty sleeping,

inability to concentrate and intense nicotine cravings (Nic-fits) Onset is about 30 minutes after a cigarette

Psychological dependence may also occur Users become habitually used to having a cigarette in a

specific situation, over time, the situation becomes a stimulus which may produce strong cravings and withdrawal symptoms (Classical conditioning)

Driving a car, after eating, with a cup of coffee

ADDICTION

WHAT ELSE IS IN THERE? Cigarettes contain over 4,000* chemicals Tar – a mixture of hundreds of chemicals

Stains nails, fingers and teeth; smelly clothes and hair; bad breath; paralysis of cilia in lungs; increases likelihood of respiratory illness, colds, chronic coughs, asthma, bronchitis; impairs lungs ability to exchange gases

Carcinogens – cancer causing chemicals, many of which are found in tar

Carbon Monoxide – poisonous gas that inhibits energy production (ATP) in the process of cellular respiration Also, binds hemoglobin so tightly that oxygen cannot be carried

by RBCs Increases breathing and heart rate which strains the heart

(Heart disease!) Smokeless tobacco – contains many of the same

chemicals found in cigarettes and twice the nicotine! (2x as addicting)

LONG TERM HEALTH RISKS

Smoking is the #1 cause of preventable death!!!

Smoker’s Cough – Tar from cigarettes paralyzes the cilia in the lungs preventing them from pushing toxins, dust and debris out of the lungs. Coughing is the body’s way of trying to clean the lungs May cause inflammation and

excessive mucus production COPD – Chronic Obstructive

Pulmonary Disease Blanket term for many chronic

lung illnesses including chronic bronchitis and emphysema

EMPHYSEMA

Remember that the lungs are filled with clusters of tiny grape-like air sacs called alveoli These are stretchy and expand

like balloons when lungs inhale The chemicals erode the tissue

in alveoli Causes the air sacs to lose all

elasticity They become thin and crinkly,

like cellophane Scar tissue develops Lungs can’t inhale or exhale

properly Oxygen and carbon dioxide can’t

be exchanged

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE Number one killer of women in

America Kills 138,000 smokers/year A smoker is 2x to 3x more likely

to have a heart attack Smokers have double the risk of

a stroke Smokers are 10x more likely to

develop circulation problems which can damage kidneys, legs, feet, stomach

Not only does the heart have to work harder to get less oxygen to tissues, but the chemicals in cigarettes erode and damage delicate blood vessels and causes blood clots

CANCER

Lung Cancer – leading cause of cancer death in men and women 85% of lung cancer is smoking related Only 15% of lung cancer patients survive more

than five years Oral Cancer – 90% of cases are tobacco related

While treatment and survival rates are higher, surgeries may lead to permanent disfiguring of the face and neck

Other cancer may develop as a result of tissue exposure to the high quantity of carcinogens circulating the blood with each puff of a cigarette

LUNG CANCER

Healthy Lung Cancerous lung

SECONDHAND SMOKE Mainstream smoke – smoke from the cigarette going

directly into the smoker’s lungs or being exhaled into the air for someone else to breath

Sidestream smoke – smoke coming directly off the unfiltered end of a cigarette Contains 2x as much tar and nicotine!

Dangers of secondhand smoke – leads to almost all of the same health problems that smokers may face Children exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely

to develop allergies, asthma and ear infections in addition to lung cancer and heart disease

Remember, you have a right to ask smokers to not smoke near you! Even if you’re in your friend’s car who smokes!

TOBACCO AND PREGNANCY Everything in your blood

gets into your baby’s blood Babies born to smokers

Weigh less May have major childhood

and life-long health problems Cerebral palsy Sight impairment Hearing problems Learning difficulties Higher risk of SIDS

Nicotine in nursing mothers’ milk may cause vomiting and diarrhea in babies (nicotine poisoning symptoms)