Smoking is one of the most common negative habits that people indulge in. Many health experts have warned that smoking is unhealthy and dangerous to the human health. This essay will discuss the negative effects of smoking on human beings.
Smoking cigarette is addictive that is why many smokers have difficulties in giving up the habit. Cigarettes are produced of tobacco with a large percent of other additives, which account for the largest number of preventable deaths in the world. People who smoke commonly face different health problems, which are caused by tobacco consumption. Therefore, smoking has negative health consequences for smokers and people who live with them and become passive smokers as a result.
The WHO and other health organisations have sensitised people on the dangers of smoking. There are many health conditions which smokers are likely to suffer from (Pampel 61). Their bodies absorb harmful toxins which cigarettes contain which are dangerous to their health.
Smoking is a major health risk which results in heart attacks, strokes, bronchitis, and other respiratory diseases. The accumulation of tobacco and other toxins in the respiratory tract of a smoker makes a person suffer from respiratory health conditions.
Smokers, therefore, are likely to incur huge medical bills when they seek for treatment for these diseases. Many governments spend a lot of money on treating smoking related diseases, which increases the cost of healthcare. Pampel argues that smokers can succumb to such illnesses unless they stop smoking (64).
Tobacco consumption causes dental problems which are difficult to reverse. Smokers are likely to have bad breath, stained teeth and smelly gums. Toxic elements, which cigarettes contain, for instance, tar, have dangerous impacts on human health. These substances cause smokers to have poor dents and even lose their teeth (Peate 362).
Smokers are likely to suffer emotionally and psychologically because poor health and unattractive appearance, caused, for example, by stained or broken teeth, make a person lose his/her own self-esteem. Smokers are likely to be shunned by people close to them because of fetid breath, bad body odour and poor outward appearance. Therefore, people need to be made aware of dental and other health problems they are likely to experience as a result of smoking.
Tobacco consumption causes a lot of deaths in developing countries. These countries have weak laws which do not effectively regulate cigarette selling and consumption. Advertisement implicit messages encourage the young to become smokers. Tobacco advertising in many developed countries has been prohibited. However, some third world countries still allow tobacco advertising, which encourages more people to acquire this bad habit.
The images of sophistication, bravery and glamour which are carried by tobacco adverts easily persuade the young to become smokers. Peate reveals that tobacco companies target adolescents and women to increase their sales (363). These people are easily influenced by what they see in the media. People who begin smoking at early age are likely to be addicted for a longer period than those who develop the habit at mature age (Cox).
Smokers are exposed to various carcinogens in cigarettes. These carcinogens cause cancer and negatively affect human health. Lung, throat, brain, bladder, cervical cancer as well as other forms are caused by smoking. The symptoms are often detected at the time when the smoker’s health condition is already chronic.
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death world wide. A significant number of cancer patients have a history of smoking and tobacco consumption (Peate 365). If people get exposed to exhaled smoke, they are likely to be affected by it. They breathe in toxic components of the exhaled smoke that deposit in their lungs and other respiratory organs. These people can suffer from respiratory illnesses as well.
Women, who smoke during pregnancy, are likely to expose their unborn babies to toxic substances contained in cigarettes. The tar that is present in cigarettes is likely to be embedded in the DNA of a mother, who may pass it on to the child in her womb. These toxic components inhibit the normal growth of a baby in the fetus, which results in death and still births. Cox reveals that if the pregnancy proceeds to full term, the delivered child can have severe brain disorders.
Such children are very slow at learning because their cognitive functions are impaired. Female smokers are likely to become infertile or their reproductive abilities are limited. Nicotine restricts the ability of the female reproductive system to generate estrogen. Many physiological and reproductive functions in women depend on estrogen.
Nicotine is a substance found in cigarettes which is very addictive. People who try to give up smoking experience severe withdrawal symptoms, which restrict their ability to function effectively. They are likely to experience several episodes of depression.
This is because their bodies are used to the intake of nicotine and have difficulties in performing its functions without it (Cox). Nicotine stimulates the human mind just like any other drug, which increases the risk of high blood pressure in a smoker. From the above mentioned, it is easy to conclude that smoking has negative effects on people’s health.
Works Cited
Cox, Jack. “The Lesser Known Harmful Effects of Smoking.” The Register. 2012. Orange Country Register News. Web.
Pampel, Fred C. Tobacco Industry and Smoking. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. Print.
Peate, Ian. “The Effects of Smoking on the Reproductive Health of Men”. British Journal of Nursing 14.7 (2005): 362–366. Print.