Smoking: Leading Cause Of Death In The United States

Every year, there are over 400,000 smoking-related deaths in the United States. A large percentage of these are due to lung cancer, whose leading cause is smoking. However, not all deaths are smokers themselves. Anyone in the vicinity can fall victim to second hand smoke. These people, through no action of their own, can have their lives threatened.

The U.S. Surgeon General determined that there is no ‘risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.’ Separating smokers from nonsmokers, installing smoking rooms, or even sophisticated air cleaning technologies cannot eliminate the health hazards of secondhand smoke exposure nor remove all the poisons, toxins, gases, and particles found in secondhand smoke. Additionally, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems can distribute secondhand smoke throughout a building (Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights).

Smoking is one f the leading causes f death in the worldwide. Smoking is a major reason for respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, asthma, and bronchitis. It also leads to heart disease. As well cigarette smoke can affect the health of non-smokers and children. There are many steps to stop smoking started with treatment plan, physical activity,

From a personal perspective, my two sons were both diagnosed with asthma as young children; one outgrew it and the other one, now age 23, still has this health condition. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published a fact sheet, “Thirdhand smoke: A Threat to Child Health”. This fact sheet outlines the dangers of THS to children, pregnant women (causes low birth rates), and the elderly and even animals. It contains statistical data, dos and don’ts and preventative courses of action for parents, smokers and nonsmokers, to reduce or eliminate exposure to those most vulnerable to the effects of thirdhand smoke.

Secondhand smoke is most harmful to young children, especially those with asthma or other respiratory diseases. The EPA notes that 43% of children in the United States under the age of 11 live in a home with at least one smoker. Children exposed to secondhand smoke tend to have more bronchitis, pneumonia, respiratory infections, fluid in the middle ear, and asthma. And if both parents smoke, or if the child is frequently exposed to smoke, the child’s chances of showing symptoms of these diseases increase (US, EPA, Indoor).

Smoking is responsible for an increasing number of deaths worldwide. OECD (2013) indicates that tobacco is a major risk factor for a leading cause of the premature mortality, as it increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, lung cancer, mouth cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Compared to other OECD countries Canada’s smoking rate is low. In 2013, 16.30% of Canada’s total population was found to partake in smoking, where the average of OECD countries smoking rate was 21.13%. However, many Canadians are unaware of the significant link between second-hand smoke and the increased risk in death. In the study of “Second-hand smoke and cancer” by Canadian Partnership against Cancer (2012), more than 1,100 deaths among non-smokers are

Cigarette smoking is the greatest single cause of illness and premature death in the UK. . A 2007 report states that about 4.9 million people worldwide each year die sadly, as a result of smoking. Cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer. Tobacco smoking is the most popular practice by over one billion people in the majority of all human societies. About 30,000 people in the UK die from lung cancer each year. More than 8 in 10 cases are directly related to smoking. Lung cancer accounts for 29 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States and smoking accounts for about 87 percent of lung cancer deaths. The risks of dying from lung cancer

In today’s society almost everyone is a smoker in some way, shape, or form. Whether tobacco is smoked or chewed the consumption has proven to be deadly to all aspects of humanity. In 2013 the Center for Disease Control (cdc.gov) reported that in 2013, 42.1 adults in America were current cigarette smokers consequentially polluting the environment at an aggressive rate. Second hand smoke is smoke inhaled involuntarily due to other tobacco users. These chemicals released into the atmosphere then linger undetectably in the air we breath. When exposed to second hand smoke the effects are equivalent. No one is exempt from the exposure to second hand smoke. 88 million nonsmoking Americans are

Unfortunately second-hand smoke has twice the chemicals originate in the direct inhalation of tobacco found in cigarettes. (“Secondhand Smoke”) Non-smokers who inhale the polluted air are likely to get many serious diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), heart disease, lung cancer, asthma and other diseases. (“Second Hand Smoke”) Third-hand smoke can have the same impact as second hand smoke; third-hand smoke is the tobacco smoke that gets trapped hair, skin, fabric, carpet, furniture, and toys. Third-hand smoke contains the same toxic chemicals as second-hand smoke and has the same effect on the body;

In the cigarette, scientists found a complex mixture of gases and more than 7000 chemicals, which are generated during the burning and smoking of tobacco products. Of these, more than hundreds are known to be toxic or carcinogenic. Second hand smoke could causes many diseases, cancer is only one of them. According to the American cancer society, “every year in the United States alone, second hand smoke responsible for estimated 42,000 deaths from heart disease in people who are current non-smokers,furthermore,it Making children much more likely to be put into intensive care when they are sick; they stay in the hospital longer, and they’re more likely to need breathing tubes than kids who aren’t exposed to SHS”.

"Environmental tobacco smoke-the secondhand cigarette smoke breathed by nonsmokers is a known carcinogen and the most dangerous environmental pollutant."(Waxman 1995) Surprisingly secondhand smoke causes as many deaths as the tobacco smokers do. "Most people die from secondhand smoke each year than from car accidents."(Waxman 1995) There are a lot of reasons that causes the deaths from secondhand smoke. "Lung cancer is the best known risk from secondhand smoke."(Wilson 1997)

As stated in the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), “Secondhand smoke is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. In 2005, it was estimated that, each year exposure to secondhand smoke in the United States kills more than 3,000 adult nonsmokers from lung cancer and

Smoking, a practice of inhaling and exhaling smoke from burning tobacco, is a problem that is notorious for causing the death of more than 7 million people every year, and around 890,000 of those people are non-smokers that were exposed to second-hand smoke (World Health Organization). According to “Your Health Today: Choices in a Changing Society,” smoking causes cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases because of the content of approximately 600 chemical ingredients, which yield more than 4,800 substances when burnt (Teague 336-338). Not only are the smokers themselves harmed, but also non-smokers that are exposed to smokers’ second-hand smoke, especially women, children, pregnant women, and fetus. For

Secondhand smoke is a combination of the smoke produced at the end of a burning cigarette and that that a smoker exhales. It can easily be identified by its distinct odor and is retained in clothing, furniture, hair, and curtains. Secondhand smoke contains over 4000 chemicals with more than 50 of these known to cause cancer (Report of the Surgeon General). It contains numerous toxic metals including lead, cadmium, nickel, beryllium, radioactive polonium-210, and arsenic, found in many pesticides (Report of the Surgeon General). A child's body is still developing and highly susceptible to the harmful effects of their environments. “Exposure to the poisons in secondhand smoke puts them at risk of severe respiratory diseases and can hinder

If you haven’t noticed yet, one of the most deadly objects exist all around you. This deadly activity that surrounds us is called smoking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “the use of cigarettes kills four-hundred eighty thousand people a year and continues to rise.” Smoking has caused many families to lose members due to a simple stick of tobacco. The reason people even begin to get addicted to a cigarette is due to the drug, nicotine. As said by the American Nonsmokers Rights Foundation, “Nicotine causes the brain to raise the levels of a natural drug called dopamine which is released in parts of the brain that produce feelings of reward.” After the nicotine gets the user addicted, the person will now smoke cigarettes