Consequence of Smoking Tobacco

CONSEQUENCES OF SMOKING TOBACCO

Everybody knows that tobacco smoking is not good for you. Other than cancer and heart disease, that is about it. Wrong, there are many other diseases that are related to tobacco us. I will start laying the foundation for our cause-Stop Tobacco Farming. This should be a real eye opener for those who’ve recently quit and might fall back and those who know they should quit.

Tobacco is a nasty bug that kills 480,000 to 500,000 (1,2,3). people per year and 16 million are fighting diseases from tobacco. Keep in mind that these deaths and pain could have been prevented simply by not having tobacco in the market place. The industry never tells you the whole truth, just enough to keep them in business

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This problem is so large that if you were to take HIV human immunodeficiency virus, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries and all firearm-related incidents and combine them all, tobacco still takes more lives (4). This is the elephant in the room that know body wants to talk about. I do have an answer for this epidemic, stop tobacco farming and impose a complete embargo on all imported tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco derivatives. (Nicotine).

A few other facts that might be of interest to you… more U.S. citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than have died in all the wars fought by the United States ten times over! (1).

Smoking causes about 90% of all lung cancer deaths. (1,2) More women die from lung cancer each year than from breast cancer (5). Smoking causes about 80% of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). (1).

If you are a smoker, you are at increased risk for coronary heart disease or stroke by 2 to 4 times (1,6). Smoking also damages blood vessels by thickening and growing narrower giving you high blood pressure and clots can form. (1,2) Clots can block the blood flow to the brain and around the brain, you have a stroke (1,2). Smoking can reduce blood flow to your legs and skin (1,2).

I’m going to give you a list of all the places in the body smoking can cause cancer:

· Bladder

· Blood (acute myeloid leukemia)

· Cervix

· Colon and rectum (colorectal)

· Esophagus

· Kidney and ureter

· Larynx

· Liver

· Oropharynx (throat, tongue, soft palate, and the tonsils)

· Pancreas

· Stomach

· Trachea, bronchus and lung

If nobody smoked, one of every three cancer deaths in the United States would not happen (1,2).

If that did not get your attention, let see how it is for young women. CDC says “Smoking can make it harder for women to become pregnant It can also affect her baby’s health before and after birth”. Smoking increases risk for (1,2,5).

1. · Preterm (early) delivery

· Stillbirth (death of the baby before birth)

· Low birth weight

· Sudden infant death syndrome (known as SIDS or crib death)

· Ectopic pregnancy

· Orofacial clefts in infants

For the young men, smoking can also affect men’s sperm, which can reduce fertility and also increase risks for birth defects and miscarriage (2).

Women past childbearing age who smoke have weaker bones and a greater risk for broken bones (1,5). Other problems that effect both sex’s the health of your teeth and gums and that can cause tooth loss. Smoking can put you at risk for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Besides what I have spoken of before we must include the effect on the body, including inflammation and decreased immune function (1). Lastly smoking is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis. (1).

I did not write this to tell you to stop smoking. This was written to be part of the foundation for what I believe is the only way to stop all the tobacco causing diseases from happening. We must have “Judy’s Law” to make it against the law for farmers to grow tobacco. Included must be a full embargo on all tobacco, all tobacco products and all tobacco derivatives. It is that simple. Over time we can save 480,000 people per year that are now dying from tobacco related diseases (1). To say nothing of the 16 million now suffering from tobacco related diseases. Why is this not being treated as an epidemic?????

References

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services the Health Consequences of Smoking-50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General (https: www.cdc.gov/data

statistics/sgr/50th-anniversary/index.htm). Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health promotion, Office on Smoking and Health,2014 (accessed 2017 Apr 20).

2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Service. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What it Means to You(https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data statistics/sgr/2010/consumer-booklet/index.htm). Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2010 (accessed 2017 Apr 20).

3. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. QuickStats: Number of Deaths from 10 Leading Causes-National Vital Statistics System. United States. 2010 (https://www.cdcgov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtmi/mm6208a8.htm?s cid=mm6208a8 w). Morbidity and mortality weekly Report 2013:155. (accessed 2017 Apr 20).

4. Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual Causes of Death in the United. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association 2004;291(10):1238-45 (cited 2017 Apr 20).

5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Women and Smoking: A Report of the surgeon General (https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data.statistics/sgr/2001/index.htm). Rockville (MD): U>S> Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General, 2001 (accessed 2017 Apr 20).

6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing the Health Consequences if Smoking: 25 Years of Progress. A report of the Surgeon General (http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/NN/B/B/X/S/) Rockville MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nation Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Office Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health (tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov (mailto:tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov).