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Cigarette Smoking Essay

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Cigarette Smoking

The effects of cigarette smoking can be horrifying. Smoking is dangerous not only to those who smoke, but to non-smokers and unborn children as well. Cigarette smoking is also physically and socially harming.
The large particles in cigarette smoke, commonly known as “tar”, collect in the branching points of the lungs. The tar contains carcinogenic compounds that increase the risk of lung cancer. The small particles in cigarette smoke, including carcinogens, irritants, and corrosive chemicals, collect in the small air sacs in the lungs and damage them. These air sacs are where the blood absorbs oxygen from the air. When the small particles from the cigarette smoke are absorbed into the blood …show more content…

The presence of these components in the sputum may cause mutations in the smokers genes, which may lead to the formation to cancerous tumors. The risk of developing lung cancer is directly related to the number of cigarettes smoked (Schaadt, 1992).
Many of the cancers besides lung cancer may develop as a result of cigarette smoking. One example is cancer of the larynx. Sometimes the larynx has to be removed because of the presence of a tumor, forcing the smoker to breathe through a surgical opening in the wind pipe. Because the larynx is located near the voice box, the voice box will often get destroyed from the tumor on the larynx, forcing the smoker to use an artificial voice box in order to speak. Less major cancers including cancers of the cheeks, gums, lips, tongue, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas may also arise.
Another cardiovascular malfunction that cigarette smoking may cause are strokes. A stroke is damage to the brain caused by leakage from a ruptured blood vessel or an interruption in blood supply. Nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke affect the adhesives of blood platelets, the main clotting factor in blood. This can cause blood vessels to harden and form blood clots that can flow to the brain, a major cause of strokes. Nicotine can also cause the blood vessels to constrict. When a smokers arteries become too constricted,

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