Stephen Chrzanowski
Dr. Kerr
Eng 101 H Sec 1
10/25/2010
The Harmful Effects of Smoking Cigarettes
Smoking cigarettes can potentially create or exacerbate medical problems for those who use these tobacco-based products as well as for those who don’t smoke but suffer the effects of second hand smoke. To accurately assess the effects of second hand smoke, one must define what constitutes second-hand smoke, examine the existing information about its harmful effects, and determine how this byproduct of smoking can be a contributory factor to a variety of health problems or risks among non-smokers who are exposed to second hand smoke (through either professional or personal circumstances) including those that can potentially lead to death. While the short term effects of smoking (feelings of pleasure, contentment or getting "buzzed") can provide brief moments of ecstasy (with or without the additional feelings associated with such an addictive substance), leading medical authorities tend to agree that that the long term effects generally outweigh any short term gains. Given the sheer number of smokers in the United States (even though this number appears to be shrinking) and the rising number of those affected by second hand smoke, particularly in light of the massive healthcare reform recently passed by the Obama Administration, the effects and ramifications of second hand smoke need to be examined, including how this phenomena relates to young people.
It has been proven that the smoking of cigarettes is a direct cause of cancer as said by the National Cancer Institute “Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and diminishes a person’s overall health. Smoking is a leading cause of cancer and of death from cancer. It causes cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx (voice box), mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix.” Smoking has been directly linked to the development of multiple types of cancer as stated above. When pregnant women smoke it is also extremely harmful to the baby, and is a leading cause of premature births. Smoking is easily preventable by simply not starting or quitting as there are immediate positive effects of quitting.
Another serious problem that arises from smoking is the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, as it literally affects everyone around the smoker. Especially people who are raising children and smoke in or around he house, the children are directly exposed to the same amount of toxins as the smoker is. Second hand smoking contains around The National Toxicology Program estimates that at least 250 chemicals in secondhand smoke are known to be toxic or carcinogenic” ("The Health"). And these toxins are directly connected to the development of asthma and other conditions as stated by the Environmental Protection Agency “Many of the health effects of secondhand smoke, including asthma, are most clearly seen in children because children are most vulnerable to its effects. Most likely, children's developing bodies make them more susceptible to secondhand smoke's effects and, due to their small size, they breathe more rapidly than adults thereby taking in more secondhand smoke. Children receiving high doses of secondhand smoke, such as those with smoking mothers, run the greatest relative risk of experiencing damaging health effects.” ("Asthma")
The worst and most preventable effect of smoking is death; smoking kills numerous people every year. The easiest way to prevent this from happening is to not start smoking at all, and if you do smoke to quit as soon as possible. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention there are 443,000("Smoking") deaths annually as a result of the effects of smoking. And to fully understand the devastating effects of cigarette smoking on people’s lives it was best stated by the Center for Disease Control “On average, adults who smoke cigarettes die 14 years earlier than nonsmokers. Based on current cigarette smoking patterns, an estimated 25 million Americans who are alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses, including 5 million people younger than 18 years of age.” That is a lot of time gone due to one cause.
When someone examines the effects of smoking from the perspective of how it causes cancer, gives off dangerous second hand smoke and how it ultimately leads to death it is easy to see that smoking is not safe and should not be done by anyone. Also, when someone looks at the death toll every year for smokers it gives an entirely different view of what smoking really causes. On average one out of every two smokers will die from a smoking related illness. All of these points raise the fact that smoking is not worth the health risks associated with the act of smoking such as lung cancer and the harmful effects it has on children. The easiest cure for all of this is a simple no, that’s all it takes to prevent all of the death and disease from happening to the smoker and their loved ones.
Works Cited
"Asthma Triggers - Secondhand Smoke | Asthma | US
"Quitting Smoking: Why To Quit and How To Get Help - National Cancer Institute." National Cancer Institute - Comprehensive Cancer Information. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cessation>.
"Smoking and Tobacco Use :: Fact Sheet :: Tobacco-Related Mortality :: Office on Smoking and Health (OSH
"The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, U.S.
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