Cigarette smoking is well-known to cause illness and death, yet most people who smoke continue despite this fact. Quitting smoking can be extremely difficult for a person, even when faced with the evidence that smoking brings with it a higher mortality rate. Unfortunately, the high numbers of people in the United States that are addicted to cigarettes also cause high numbers of deaths annually.
Statistics
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of 2008 more than 443,000 people die from tobacco-related causes every year, including over 269,000 men and almost 174,000 women. More people die from the effects of smoking than deaths related to HIV infection, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide and murders combined. Smoking is the most prevalent cause of preventable death in the United States.
Ingredients
Cigarettes are made of several substances, the chief ingredient being tobacco. Other chemicals are mixed with tobacco that enable the cigarette to continue burning or to add flavor. Nicotine is a well-known component of cigarettes that is found in tobacco leaves. It is the nicotine that can cause addiction to cigarette smoking and difficulty with quitting. When burning, a cigarette releases carbon monoxide in its smoke, which is a type of poisonous gas. Other components of cigarettes include arsenic, ammonia, acetone, butane and freon.
Effects
When a person inhales smoke, the nicotine enters the bloodstream and increases blood pressure, forcing the heart to pump faster. The carbon monoxide found within cigarette smoke lessens the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells in the body. The arteries in the body also narrow, making the heart work harder to get blood to the tissues, and the blood that does reach the tissues has less oxygen. Overall, the body must constantly work harder to maintain an acceptable level of oxygen for the tissues.
Secondhand Smoke
Secondhand smoke is smoke inhaled by someone near a person who is smoking. Secondhand smoke causes illness and death in the same manner as directly smoking because the person inhaling the secondhand smoke is taking in the chemicals and carcinogens, though in a passive manner. According to the American Cancer Society, secondhand smoke is the cause of heart disease death for over 46,000 nonsmokers who live with smokers each year, as of 2010.
Diseases
Smoking causes many adverse health effects and serious illnesses that eventually result in death. Of the numbers of people who die from lung cancer, almost 90 percent of the cancers were caused by smoking, according to the National Cancer Institute. Cigarette smoking also causes between 80 and 90 percent of deaths by chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, such as emphysema. Other deaths from diseases caused by smoking include cancer of the lip, esophagus, pancreas and bladder; heart disease; and stroke.
