TOBACCO SMOKE.docx

8/14/2019 TOBACCO SMOKE.docx

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EFFECTS OF TOBACCO SMOKE AND ITS TOXIC

COMPONENTS ON THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

Tobacco is made from the dried leaves of the tobacco plant. The majority of tobacco consumed is in

the form of cigarettes. After the leaves are dried they are treated with around 4000 different

chemicals before being made into cigarettes. Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens

(cancer causing), and tobacco smoke itself is carcinogenic.

Some facts about cigarette smoke

Cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals including:

Nicotine an addictive drug that affects brain and muscle activity and increases your bloodpressure, making your heart work harder

Carbon monoxide a poisonous gas that replaces oxygen in your blood, making your heart beatfaster

Tar a sticky substance that coats your lungs like soot in a chimney, making it harder for you tobreathe, and that contains dozens of chemicals that cause cancer.

The risks of cigarette smoking

If you smoke, your risk of:

Heart attack is increased by two to six times Coronary heart disease is increased if you are a woman using the contraceptive pill Stroke is increased by three times Peripheral arterial disease, which can lead to gangrene, is increased by more than five times.

Second-hand smoke is a health hazard

Exposure to second-hand smoke (passive smoking) is a serious health hazard for smokers and non-

smokers. People who inhale smoke from others are at increased risk of disease.

Non-smokers living with smokers have about a 30 per cent increase in risk of heart disease. Exposure to second-hand smoke is especially risky for children and babies, and increases the

risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis, pneumonia and asthma.


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EFFECTS OF SMOKING

Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body, including the heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes,

mouth, reproductive organs, bones, bladder, and digestive organs. This article focuses on how

smoking affects the heart and blood vessels.

HEART DISEASE - Smoking damages the heart and blood vessels

The heart relies on a generous supply of oxygen and nutrients from

the two coronary arteries and their branches. Over the years, fatty

deposits (called plaque or atheroma) can build up inside one or more

of the coronary arteries (a process called atherosclerosis). This

narrowing of the arteries reduces the flow of blood to the heart and

increases the risk of heart

attack. Smoking speeds up the

clogging and narrowing of

coronary arteries.

A heart attack occurs when ablood clot forms at a narrowed

point in a coronary artery and suddenly blocks the flow of

blood to the heart. If the artery remains blocked, the lack of

blood supply permanently damages the area of heart muscle

supplied by that artery. The severity of the heart attack

depends on how much heart muscle is permanently damaged.

Smoking also speeds up atherosclerosis and damages other

blood vessels. This peripheral arterial disease can reduce blood circulation, particularly to your

hands and feet, and result in blood clots, gangrene and even amputation.

CANCERSmoking causes the majority of lung cancers both in

smokers and in people exposed to secondhand smoke.

How smoking causes lung cancer

Tobacco smoke contains more than 60 different toxic

substances, which can lead to the development of cancer.

Smoking causes lung cancer by damaging the cells that line

the lungs. When you inhale cigarette smoke, which is full ofcancer-causing substances (carcinogens), changes in the

lung tissue begin almost immediately. At first your body

may be able to repair this damage. But with each repeated

exposure, normal cells that line your lungs are increasingly damaged. Over time, the damage causes

cells to act abnormally and eventually cancer may develop. Besides lung cancer, tobacco use also

increases the risk for cancers of the mouth, lips, nasal cavity (nose) and sinuses, larynx (voice box),

pharynx (throat), esophagus (swallowing tube), stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, uterus, cervix,

colon/rectum, ovary (mucinous), and acute myeloid leukemia.


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BRONCHITIS

Chronic bronchitis is an inflammation of the lining of

the bronchial tubes, the airways that connect the

trachea (windpipe) to the lungs. This delicate, mucus-

producing lining covers and protects the respiratory

system, the organs and tissues involved in breathing.

When a person has bronchitis, it may be harder for airto pass in and out of the lungs, the tissues become

irritated, and more mucus is produced. The most

common symptom of bronchitis is a cough.

Cigarette smoke contains many chemicals that

interfere with the body's method of filtering air and

cleaning out the lungs. The smoke irritates the lungs

and leads to overproduction of mucus. It also paralyses the cilia - tiny hair-like structures that line

the airways and clean out dust and dirt. Paralysis of the cilia means mucus and toxic substances

accumulate, resulting in congestion of the lungs. This extra mucus means smokers are more likely

to suffer from chronic bronchitisand what is known as 'smoker's cough'.

EMPHYSEMA

In emphysema, there is a slightly different

problem developing in the lungs as the walls

between the tiny grape-shaped air sacs or alveoli

are damaged and break down. They then form

into much larger airspaces and there are fewer

surfaces for gas exchange, so oxygen intake is less

and the person feels breathless.Long term exposure of the lungs to the irritants in

tobacco smoke destroys the normal lung

structure. The elastic walls of the small airways

within the lungs are broken down. This reduces

the amount of lung tissue available for the

transfer of oxygen from the air to the blood. This

condition is called emphysema. Some degree of emphysema is found in almost all people who are

long-term smokers, however the severity will vary depending on the amount of cigarettes smoked,

and the number of years the individual smokes.

Damage to the lung tissue is irreversible. Emphysema can be prevented by not smoking, avoidinganything that will irritate the lungs such as dust and cold air, and ensuring any chest infections such

as flu and bronchitis are treated properly.

SHALYN


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