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Research Paper on Tobacco

Decent Essays

Tobacco

Nicotine use is a leading preventable cause of death in the world, directly and indirectly responsible for 440,000 deaths per year. The health problems that result in tobacco use tally an annual of $75 billion in direct medical costs (Slovic 36). That money spent on medical problems for smokers should be used to pay for more important things in our society such as schools, libraries, childcare, etc.
Because it takes approximately eight seconds for nicotine to reach the brain and each cigarette contains over 4,000 chemicals, tobacco is one of the most addictive drugs in the United States. ("TIPS" 8). Dependency is defined as reliance for a substance that you can't live without. Smokers have a physical and physiological reliance …show more content…

Laryngeal cancer shows up in the vocal cords. Symptoms of this cancer include cough, coughing blood, and hoarseness. Oral cancer arises in the mouth and throat. It's most common in people who chew tobacco. Esophageal cancer is in the esophagus which links the oral cavity to the stomach. Pancreatic cancer is in the pancreas which is a secreatory organ situated at the rear of the abdominal cavity behind the stomach. Being bathed in the tobacco carcinogens which are in the blood and then concentrated in the urine causes kidney cancer. Cancer of the urinary bladder is in the bladder's surface, and the earliest symptom is bleeding. Respiratory diseases cause by smoking includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, respiratory morbidity, emphysema, and respiratory infections.
Cigarette smokers are two to four times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than non-smokers, and tobacco use doubles risk for stroke. It also causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels, and it causes premature wrinkles because it constricts the oxygen and warmth from all parts of the body so the skin ages faster.
Another huge tobacco-related health problem is secondhand smoke. It is known to cause approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 heart disease deaths in nonsmokers each year. By definition it is a mixture of smoke given off by the burning end of tobacco products and the smoke exhaled by smokers. Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000

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