Dangers Smoking

Introduction

People have many questions about tobacco that can sometimes be hard to
answer. They might have questions about cigarettes, cigars, spit and other
types of smokeless tobacco, other tobacco products, nicotine, addiction, or
quitting. Many of these questions are answered here. We also answer
some questions about how smoking and tobacco can affect a person's
health, including the heart, circulation, and lungs; its effect on unborn
.babies; and how it affects the risk of cancer and other diseases

?How do people quit smoking

Quitting smoking is not easy, and some people try many times before they
are able to quit for good. There are many ways to quit smoking. For
example, some have been able to stop "cold turkey," by taking part in the
.Great American Smokeout, or by using other methods
There's no single best way to quit. Quitting for good may mean using
many methods, including step-by-step manuals, self-help classes,
counseling, toll-free telephone-based counseling programs, and/or using
nicotine replacement therapies or other medicines (see the next
questions). Smokers may also need to make changes in their daily routine
to help them break their smoking habits. Some may find long-term support
such as Nicotine Anonymous helpful. To improve your chances of
.success, try to use 2 or more of these methods to help you quit

Statement of the Problem

Tobacco smoking has been fingered (e.g., U.S. Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare [U.S. DHEW], 1964) as a major cause of mortality
and morbidity, responsible for an estimated 434,000 deaths per year in
.the United States (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 1991a)

But, did you know that the so much publicized 400,000+ "smoking-related'
?deaths in the US simply does not exist

That number is a guess... a heavily slanted, politically manipulated

estimate using a computer model programmed with the assumptions of
.causality in synergy with the current political agenda against tobacco

.It DOES NOT represent an actual bodycount

!In fact, Those 400,000 Smoking "VICTIMS" Live Longer Than the Rest of Us

Some claim that about 10 million people in the United States have died
from causes attributed to smoking (including heart disease, emphysema,
and other respiratory diseases) since the first Surgeon General's report on
smoking and health in 1964 with 2 million of these deaths the result of
.lung cancer alone

In fact, they like to say that "Cigarette smoking is the single most
".preventable cause of premature death in the United States

They declare one in every five deaths in the United States is smoking
related. Every year, smoking kills more than 276,000 men and 142,000
women. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking-attributable
mortality and years of potential life lost--United States, 1990. Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report 1993;42(33):645-8.)

How do they explain why non-smokers (75% of heart disease deaths) die
?from heart disease

Assumptions of the study

Smoking Causes Cance

Ninety-five per cent of lung cancer deaths are due directly to cigarette
smoking", according to Dr Desmond Carney, oncologist at University

College, Dublin, and secretary general of the International Association for

.the Study of Lung Cancer
Women who smoke increase their risk of dying from lung cancer by nearly
12 times and the risk of dying from bronchitis and emphysema by more
than 10 times. Between 1960 and 1990, deaths from lung cancer among
women have increased by more than 400%--exceeding breast cancer
deaths in the mid-1980s.(Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
1993;42(44)) The American Cancer Society predicts that 80,000 women
will develop lung cancer this year and 67,000 will die from it, as compared
.to 43,500 deaths from breast cancer
Men who smoke increase their risk of death from lung cancer by more than
22

times and from bronchitis and emphysema by nearly 10 times. Smoking

triples the risk of dying from heart disease among middle-aged men and
women. (CDC Smoking-attributable mortality and years of potential life
lost--United States, 1990. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
1993;42(33):645-8.)

Smoking causes more than $196 billion each year in health-related costs, *
.including the cost of lost productivity caused by deaths from smoking

Smoking-related medical costs averaged more than $100 billion each *

year between 2000 and 2004. This translates to $2,247 in extra medical
.expenses for each adult smoker per year as of 2004

Death-related productivity losses from smoking among workers cost the *

.US economy almost $97 billion yearly (average for 2000-2004)

?Where can I go for help

is hard to stop smoking, but you can do it! More than 47 million Americans
have quit smoking for good, and now there are more former smokers than
current smokers in the US. Many organizations offer information,
counseling, and other services on how to quit, as well as information on
where to go for help. Other good resources for finding help include your
.doctor, dentist, local hospital, or employer
Limitation of terms
According to three medical doctors writing in the journal Medical
Hypotheses, giving up smoking can kill you. The doctors were "struck by
the more than casual relationship between the appearance of lung cancer
and an abrupt and recent cessation of the smoking." In 182 of the 312
cases they treated, habitual smokers of at least a pack a day for at least a
quarter-century developed lung cancer shortly after they gave up
.smoking
In a rush to cover their tracks and bad statistics, anti-smoking advocates
are quickly revising their numbers to be more in line with their political
ambitions. In the 1960's epidemiologists estimated that smoking killed one
fourth of all regular smokers. That estimate was later raised to one third.
More recently they suggest that both estimates are too low. According to
scientist

Richard Peto, lifelong cigarette use, particularly if begun before age 20,
.kills at least half of all smokers

CDC Regularly Misrepresents the Facts

Americans are not experiencing the "epidemic of tobacco related disease
and death" the anti-smokers claim. If that were true, why would annual
?death rates decrease in the U.S. as cigarette sales rates increase

Cigarette
Census Death by Death Sales per
Year Population All Cause Rate% Billion
2.5 1.72 1,307,107 75,994,600 1900

8.6 1.47 1,351,992 91,972,260 1910

44.6 1.30 1,374,358 105,710,600 1920
119.3 1.13 1,387,358 122,775,100 1930
181.9 1.08 1,422,028 131,669,300 1940
369.8 0.96 1,446,695 150,697,400 1950
484.4 0.95 1,703,570 179,323,200 1960
536.5 0.94 1,921,031 203,302,000 1970
631.5 0.88 1,989,841 226,545,800 1980
525.0 0.87 2,162,000 248,709,900 1990

Smokers represented nearly 50% of the adult male/female population for

several decades in the United States according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Smoking among adults decreased dramatically
from 42% in 1965 to 26% in 1994. During this period, smoking among the
adult male population declined from 52% to 28%; adult female smoking
declined from 34% to 23%. In 1994, 48 million adults 18 years of age and
older (25.3 million men, 22.7 million women) were current smokers in the
.United States

Definition of terms

Most Deaths Due to Smoking are Caused by Cancer

It has been proven that smoking causes lung cancer and cancers of oral
cavity, larynx, esophagus and bladder. More than 95% of lung cancers are
detected in smokers or those exposed to environmental tobacco smoke.
90% of smokers with lung cancer die within 3 years of diagnosis. The risk
.increases steadily with the number of cigarettes smoked per day

Breathing Problems and Lung Disorders Caused By Smoke

The toxins in smoke can cause lung disorders like emphysema, chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, and significant reduction in
lung functioning. Smokers cough is common symptom that develops as
the defense system tries to expel the chemicals accumulated in the air
passage and lungs. Gradually, the respiratory system becomes more
prone to infections due to lowered immuSmoking and Heart Disease
Cigarette smoking is one of the major risk factors for high
blood pressure and fatal heart attacks. Chemicals in the smoke develop
atherosclerosis and lowers supply of oxygen to the heart leading to cardiovascular diseases. The damage already caused due to smoking is
reversible. The risk of developing a heart disease or stroke once you quit
smoking successfully is the same as you never smoked. Of course this
doesnt mean that you wait till a later age to quit until completely smoke.dried

Procedures
?Is there a safe way to smoke cigarettes *
Yes - No-

?Is cigarette smoking really addictive *

Yes - No-

?Is smoking common among young people *

Yes - No-

* ?Does smoking cause cancer

Yes - No-

?If you smoke but don't inhale, is there any danger *

Yes - No-

?Does cigarette smoking affect your heart *

Yes - No-