Nicotine Addiction To Smoking Essay

The American Heart Association reports an even gloomier number, “Cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the United States. It accounts for more than 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths. Cigarette smokers have a higher risk of developing a number of chronic disorders. (AHA, 2005).

     In the world today, Nicotine is one of the most frequently used addictive drugs. The impact it has on society is like no other. It is one of more than 4,000 chemicals found in the smoke of tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. This addictive drug is the primary component in tobacco that acts on the brain.

"Second hand smoke disables and kills many people by virtue of its cardiovascular effects and also by virtue of its cardiovascular effects on the lung" (Reinberg).

Tobacco smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and diseases in the United States of America. Close to 480,000 Americans lose their life each year due to illness caused by smoking cigarette. (Healthy People 2020, 2010).

Although it remains a large portion of the U.S’ economy, tobacco smoking can lead to a variety of diseases and disorders that affect the user. The effects of smoking tobacco not only affect the user but surrounding people as well: permanently destroying their lungs and children, increasing the chances of diseases and of cancer.

Exercising helps eliminate all the extra fat and waste that surrounds the heart. Also quitting smoking avails the whole body, especially the heart. Smoking cigarettes causes about 1 in every 5 deaths in the United States each year. (National Institutes of Health). Tobacco has many chemicals that harm the organs in the body. It also damages the blood vessels, which increases the risk of atherosclerosis (Smoking & Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)). The carbon dioxide that is coming from the cigarette binds to the hemoglobin, a substance that is found in red blood cells, preventing the blood from carrying a full load of oxygen that is needed to sustain the body. Making it harder to breath and stressing the heart. Smoking also damages the heart vessels, which affects how well the blood flows around the body making the heart work more. For some people, such as women who use birth control pills and people who have diabetes, smoking poses an even greater risk to the heart and blood vessels. Cigarettes have nicotine in them which produce adrenaline, therefore causing the heart to work harder and gaining a high blood pressure and rate

One of America’s leading cause of death is smoking. Smoking has been around for years and doesn’t look like it’s going away anytime soon. The effects of smoking harms about every organ in the body, for example: the heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes, mouth, reproductive organs, bones, bladder, and digestive organs. Smokers use that “it’s my body, I do what I want,” The problem with that is smoking doesn’t just affect the person doing it. It harms other people in the ways; it’s called 2nd hand smoking. People who receive second hand smoking are possible to get a disease as a person who smokes regularly. It might not be as serve but will still be not good. Most people are trying to quit but aren’t trying hard enough without motivation. Smoking is one of the most common causes of death however quitting now will decrease your chances of disease and death.

Throughout life, a person is faced with large and small obstacles. Some don't require a minimum effort; however others demand the strength of will and a maximum effort. One obstacle is nicotine addiction. Some consider it as a disease, a bad habit or a little weakness. Much has been said about smoking, but it is still a major problem in the United States. This habit has joined men and women and has received widespread popularity among children and adolescents. Nicotine addiction has a negative impact on society as a whole, as well as, on the life of an individual's health.

Once nicotine is in the blood stream it flows almost immediately to the brain. The carbon monoxide that is inhaled through the use of a cigarette reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. The reduced amount of oxygen and the effects of nicotine delivered to the brain cause an imbalance of the amount of oxygen that is demanded and the amount of oxygen supplied. As a result of a reduced amount of oxygen in the blood stream the heart rate increases, because the heart has to increase the flow of blood to deliver the amount of oxygen that is required throughout the body. The body’s blood pressure also increases when nicotine is introduced into the body. Nicotine stimulates the adrenal gland which releases adrenalin and noradrenalin. The release of these hormones can have numerous effects on the body’s vascular system and cause an increase in blood pressure.

We know this statement and we see this in advertisements, in slogans, in posters and televisions everywhere and yet smoking still the leading cause of death in America. According to Centers for Communicable diseases, 2017, smoking is still the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States. It kills more people than infectious disease, abuse, firearms, obesity and traffic accidents. Some people do not believe that smoking is harmful to them. Some people do not notice the harm at first and by the time they notice the effects, they are addicted to it already. That is why the Word Health Organization calls it as “gradual killer”. Lastly, according to Sherry McKee, the director of Yale Behavioral Pharmacology Lab, “Most of the smokers think that they can just quit easily at any time and nearly all believe that they won’t be long-term smokers”. These are some of the knowledge gaps in tobacco use.

Perhaps the body system that smoking interferes with the most, is the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular system is affected in a number of ways including, adverse lipid profile. Nicotine increases the amount of “bad” fats (low density lipoproteins, triglycerides, and cholesterol) circulating in the blood vessels and decreases the amount of “good” fat (high density lipoproteins) available (Mitchell et al., 1999). Another effect on the cardiovascular system is, atherosclerosis. This is when fat and cholesterol stick to the walls of an artery. Nicotine damages the blood vessel walls to allow the accumulation of fat and cholesterol to occur at a faster rate thus increasing the risk for heart disease (Mitchell et al., 1999). Smoking also

Another cardiovascular malfunction that cigarette smoking may cause are strokes. A stroke is damage to the brain caused by leakage from a ruptured blood vessel or an interruption in blood supply. Nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke affect the adhesives of blood platelets, the main clotting factor in blood. This can cause blood vessels to harden and form blood clots that can flow to the brain, a major cause of strokes. Nicotine can also cause the blood vessels to constrict. When a smokers arteries become too constricted,

Nicotine, one of the most unusual psychoactive drugs known, and the primary pharmacological agent of addiction in cigarettes, triggers powerful physical and psychological reactions in species as diverse as cockroaches and humans.

Smoking creates toxins in the blood. This greatly contributes to the development of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a condition in which fatty material is deposited along the walls of the arteries. This fatty material thickens, hardens, and can eventually block the arteries if not treated. Clots may also form around the plaque deposits. Smoking raises the levels of proteins that cause the blood to clot and also increases platelet production, making the blood stickier which further creates risk for clots. This also interferes with the blood flow and poses an added danger if they were to break off and travel through the body causeing assorted health problems such as heart attack, stroke, or gangrene.

Cigarette smoking is something people all over the world have been doing for about 2000 years. Back in 2003, the first electronic cigarette was successfully created by a gentleman named Hon Lik. Lik was a 52 year old pharmacist at the time, whom of which was also a smoker. The inspiration behind making the electronic cigarette came after Lik’s father passed away from lung cancer due to him also being a heavy smoker. “A Historical Timeline of Electronic Cigarettes.” cassia.org. Consumer Advocates for Smoke Free Alternatives Association, 15 June 2017. The idea behind creating this device was to give smokers a way to still ingest nicotine, the most addictive chemical in tobacco cigarettes, without the countless negative health effects that