Tobacco smoking is not a disease but is the reason for quite a few serious diseases such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular diseases, cerebral haemorrhage, cancer, and chronic pulmonary sufferings like asthma and bronchitis.
Tobacco smoke is inhaled into the lungs where the nicotine is absorbed. The nicotine is then transported in the blood from the lungs to the brain, where it binds to receptors that activate the so-called reward hormone dopamine, which results in a sense of well-being. The nicotine is then metabolized in the liver and excreted. However, some people metabolize nicotine more quickly than others. The longer your body takes to break down the nicotine, the faster you will become dependent on it. After having smoked a cigarette, your blood pressure will rise, your pulse will increase, and the temperature of your skin will be reduced.
When smoking, an incomplete combustion of the tobacco takes place and a mixture of more than 4000 different chemical substances are produced - of which more than 50 are carcinogenic. The chemical compounds are both particles and waste gases. The particles are also called tobacco tar.
The substances in the particle phase can be:
- Nicotine which has habit-forming and stimulating effects.
- Tar which is carcinogenic.
- Beta-naphthylamine which is carcinogenic.
- N-nitrosonornicotine which is carcinogenic.
- Benzpyrene which is carcinogenic.
- Poly-aromatic hydrocarbons which are carcinogenic substances.
- Phenol which is irritating and enhances the harmful effect of carcinogenic substances.
- Cresol which is irritating and enhances the harmful effect of carcinogenic substances.
- Catechol which is irritating and enhances the harmful effect of carcinogenic substances.
- Cadmium which is a heavy metal with a half-life of 15 - 30 years in human tissue.
The substances in the gas phase can be:
- Carbon monoxide which inhibits the transport of oxygen.
- Nitrosamines which are carcinogenic.
- Hydrazine which is carcinogenic.
- Vinyl chloride which is carcinogenic.
- Acetaldehyde which is irritating and damages the cilia of the airways.
- Ammonia which is irritating and damages the cilia of the airways.
- Acrolein which is irritating and damages the cilia of the airways.
- Formaldehyde which is irritating and damages the cilia of the airways.
- Hydrocyanic acid which is irritating and damages the cilia of the airways.
- Nitrogen oxide which is irritating and damages the cilia of the airways.
An American study has shown that nicotine is just as habit-forming as heroin and cocaine and that the trial subjects became "higher" from taking nicotine than from taking cocaine and had more side effects from nicotine than from cocaine. The study also showed that the more you smoke, the larger is your risk of becoming ill.
Just being able to smell tobacco smoke means that you are actually being exposed to passive smoking. Passive smokers are exposed to two kinds of smoke. Smoke that comes directly from the lit cigarette and spreads into the surroundings, and the smoke that is first inhaled by the smoker and then afterwards blown out. Because the combustion temperature in the smoke that comes directly from the cigarette is lower than the one inhaled by the smoker, it contains more pollutants. This is one of the reasons why passive smoking feels so unpleasant to so many people.
Non-smokers who are exposed to passive smoking can - besides being bothered by the smell - develop:
- Reduced resistance.
- Irritation in the eyes, airways, and mucous membranes.
- Headache.
- Coughing.
- Reduced lung function.
- Increased risk of lung cancer.
- Increased risk of coronary sclerosis which can result in blood clots.
- Increased risk of developing glucose intolerance and diabetes.
Studies preformed on rats indicate that extreme nicotine addiction, where it is especially hard to stop smoking without resuming smoking habits, is probably already established during the foetal stage if the mother smokes during pregnancy.
In passive smoking, people suffering from chronic lung disease or pulmonary emphysema are typically the ones who will experience an exacerbation of their condition. Allergy sufferers and asthmatics are also very bothered by passive smoking because they are more hypersensitive towards tobacco and can develop dyspnoea and more frequent asthmatic attacks from being exposed to tobacco smoke.
There is an increased risk that small children who have smoking parents will develop:
- Reduced lung function.
- Respiratory diseases, e.g. asthma and asthmatic bronchitis.
- Allergies.
- Chronic otitis media.
- A need to have their tonsils and adenoids surgically removed.
- A need for more frequent visits to the doctor and admissions to a hospital.
Studies show that the passive or active smoking of pregnant women can:
- Reduce their chance of becoming pregnant in the first place.
- Reduce the blood level of e.g. vitamin B12 in the foetus which is important to cell division and growth.
- Result in premature birth, premature placental detachment, placenta praevia, and increased bleeding during birth.
- Cause low birth weight and premature birth.
- Damage the DNA of the foetus.
- Increase the risk of spontaneous abortions, late foetal death, and death during birth.
- Result in a reduced cranial circumference and body length at birth.
- Increase the risk of congenital cleft lip and -palate.
- Result in reduced alertness and intellectual function plus hyperactivity in the child.
- Cause the child to have severe withdrawal symptoms in the form of inconsolable crying, cramps, lethargy, and reduced vision when smoking only seven cigarettes a day.
- Lead to death in the child's first year - e.g. cot death.
- Cause cancer in the child.
- Result in more absence, increased sickliness, and a general reduced level of achievement in schoolchildren.
Even though not all smokers get ill from smoking, there is plenty of documentation that the body is put under strain and that many diseases occur more often in smokers than in non-smokers:
- Dependence allergy/hypersensitivity - e.g. allergy towards Solanaceae.
- Smokers' lungs, i.e. irreversible damage to the lungs (see section about COLD).
- Chronic bronchitis.
- Coronary sclerosis.
- Cerebral angiopathy.
- Lung cancer: Research indicates that women have 70% higher risk of getting lung cancer than men.
- Cancer, other forms: Cancer of the mouth and throat, tracheal cancer, oesophagus cancer, cancer of the pancreas, kidney cancer, uterus cancer, cancer of the bladder.
- Hearing impairment.
- Cadmium strain - a cigarette contains 16 - 24 mcg. of cadmium of which 50% is absorbed by your body.
- Accumulation of acid in your body resulting in acidification (a high blood level of acid).
- Oxidative stress - smoking causes imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants. This will result in production of free radicals and make the cell membranes go rancid causing permanent damage to fats, proteins, and DNA which will loosen connective tissues resulting in wrinkles.
- Wrinkled skin and hanging breasts: Smoking breaks down the protein elastin, which plays a part in maintaining the skin’s elasticity
- Deficiency states - every cigarette increases the need for vitamin C by 25 - 50 mg. Therefore, it does not take many cigarettes for a person with a daily dietary vitamin C consumption of 60 - 100 mg. to develop a deficiency. Smoking can also reduce the level of folic acid in the bronchi.
Tobacco can destroy vitamin C in the body. A vitamin C supplement will neutralize the effect of nicotine in the body and can therefore further increase the desire to smoke. The solution is to take an acid neutral form of vitamin C, e.g. calcium ascorbate. If you change the pH value in a more alkaline direction, the nicotine will be more slowly metabolized and it will therefore not be necessary for you to smoke quite as often. When your consumption of cigarettes declines, it is easier to quit smoking altogether.
Quite a few studies point to the fact that the smoking behaviour of (western) women are different from that of men, and when they smoke or choose to quit smoking, women are motivated by other circumstances - e.g. genetic ones. The studies have also shown that women have a higher predisposition for lung cancer than do men - hormonal causes might account for this difference. It is also believed that nicotine addiction in women is coupled to their hormone compliment.
In some smokers, alterations in their genes have been found that are suspected of making them more vulnerable to the harmful effects of tobacco. Almost 50% of all mentally ill individuals - people who suffer from abuse problems, anxiety, depression, or a psychosis - are heavy smokers.
Complications
Some of the most important reasons for starting to smoke and for having difficulties quitting it again can be hereditary factors, peer pressure, social pressure and norms, habits, restlessness, profound anxiety problems, a high level of activity, stress, depression, the desire to maintain low weight (typical for western women), biochemical dependence as a compensation for acid- or blood sugar imbalance as a result of poor nutrition, abuse problems, disguised self-destructiveness, and finally actually enjoying it.
To quit smoking, you have to mobilise both will-power and moral perseverance in order to deal with the subsequent mental as well as physical pain that might impose on you during the period of withdrawal - and you have to be ready to face the motives that made you start smoking in the first place. The time to quit smoking should be well-chosen. You will have the best chance of success if you plan to quit when you are well, not under any strain or stress, and have no physical or mental demands on you. The first couple of weeks are the hardest to get through.
Withdrawal symptoms when you quit smoking mostly consist of:
- A craving for nicotine
- Restlessness
- Tiredness and drowsiness
- Increased appetite
- Mood swings
- Difficulties concentrating
- Reduced performance
- Reduced stress tolerance
Depression and shorter life-span
There is a saying that "Smokers have more fun - only not for very long". This is not a statement which can be confirmed scientifically. Research has shown that depression is far more common insmokersthannon-smokers.Heavysmokers(>20 cigarettes a day) have four times higher risk of developing depression than non-smokers.
Another study of the lives of more than 34,000 doctors over a course of 50 years has established that non-smokers live an average of 10 years longer than smokers. Statistically, it can be concluded that if you quit smoking altogether at a certain age, you will "gain" an average amount of extra years:
If you quit smoking at:
- 30 years of age: you will "gain" 10 extra years
- 40 years of age: you will "gain" 9 extra years
- 50 years of age: you will "gain" 6 extra years
- 60 years of age: you will "gain" 3 extra years
Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COLD)
COLD is characterised by the emergent of a chronic state of inflammation in the lungs. COLD can arise many years after quitting smoking. Symptoms are shortness of breath and increased mucous production in the airways which cause reparatory difficulty and decreased appetite to varying degrees, depending on the severity of the disease. Unfortunately COLD is often first noticed after half of the normal lung function has been lost because the symptoms in the early stages of COLD are often mild. The inflamed airways create large amounts of mucous and many of the small air sacs (alveoli) where the air’s oxygen is taken into the body can be destroyed, making breathing difficult.
