Smoking and Second Hand Smoking Essay

This essay will consider how each of the 5 psychological perspectives explain smoking. I will cover the psychodynamic, the behaviouristic, the biological, the cognitive and the humanistic approach.

Smoking tobacco is well known to assist the body with creating cancer cells. Also loss of blood circulation leading to gangrene, hair loss, yellowing of fingernails and bad breath are only some of the health risks associated with first person smoking. These health risks can also apply to second hand smokers which

The smoking habit is the principal cause of illness, disability and death around the world. More than five million of people in the world die due to smoking habit every year. If we don’t take care of this in 2030 the amount will be ten million. Seven million of these deaths would be in poor countries.

Regardless of consumer belief, smoking dramatically increases the chances of contracting many diseases - such as heart disease or high blood pressure. Although not every user experiences these diseases, it is well known that smoking can decrease one’s life time dramatically. The information given states, “It’s virtually impossible to escape the effects of tobacco” (Jordan). This stated, Jordan expresses that essentially if you use tobacco, there is a fairly high chance that one will damage his/her body in some way. Furthermore, there are many more diseases that can be contracted and the ones stated are only the most common. Continuing, the author explains the affects of smoking, “Expose to specific elements of secondhand smoke causes blood clot more easily and damages arterial lining” (Jordan). As stated, certain components in tobacco increase the chances of high blood pressure and blood clots to form in the body. Concluding, respiratory problems in young children can occur through second hand smoking, these include asthma. Children that asthma effect increases from smoke, “Asthma turns out to be about twice as common in children exposed to high levels of second hand smoke” (Secondhand Smoke: Is it a Hazard). Not only does tobacco smoke increase other diseases, it also increases the severity of diseases already contracted as shown in the previous quote. To conclude, tobacco smoke

Cigarette smoke has extreme health consequences. It has been found that for both sexes, smoking increases the risk of dying from heart disease and from all causes; and for women, it increases the likelihood of dying from lung cancer (Bjartveit and Tverdal 2005). Cigarette smoking habits also

Healthy People 2020 describes some of the harmful effects caused by tobacco. Those causes outlined are cancer, heart disease and stroke, lung diseases, reproductive effects, and many other diseases. (2017) These harmful effects are direct to the smoker but are also harmful secondhand to those who because subjected to the smoke. Children are especially exposed to secondhand smoke as they have limited control in escaping from it. Diseased commonly caused and also discussed in Healthy People 2020 are “severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)” (2017) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services posted an article with the Surgeon General, titled, The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress.; outlined in

Department of Health and Human Services, 2014, p. 1-3). There are at least 60 chemicals found to cause numerous of cancers，including, but not limited to, lung, blood, Oropharynx and Esophagus (State Government of Victoria, 2014). A study, which followed 387 persons for 25 years to study the cumulative effect of smoking on the functional ability at age 75, found that in addition to significantly reduce the life expectancy, smoking increases the risk of disablements late in life of the smokers (Støvring, Avlund, Schultz-Larsen, & Schroll, 2004, p. 298-300). Tobacco use affects both smokers and non-smokers. Children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable (State Government of Victoria, 2014). Passive smoking causes many adverse effects on their health even they do not smoke. It increases the risk of cardiovascular, pulmonary and neoplastic diseases in children, such as asthma, lung infections and heart diseases. For the pregnant women, it increases the occurrence of sudden infant death syndrome, miscarriage and stillbirth (State Government of Victoria, 2014).

A cigarette does not only shorten your life by puff, but also the life of your child. The use of tobacco "remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States” causing more than 440,000 deaths each year and resulting in an annual cost of more than $75 billion in medical expenses, says David Marks in his novel, Overcoming Your Smoking Habits. Nonetheless, what is not discussed is secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, also known as chronic lower respiratory disease. Secondhand smoke can affect a child mentally and physically, from diseases to learning disabilities, and post-traumatic stress. Children from birth to seven years of age are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke because their lungs are not fully developed. (Marks 3)

What is secondhand smoke? Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke from an actively burning cigarette and can also be the smoke exhaled from a smoker. There are two different types of secondhand smoke: Side stream smoke which comes directly from burning tobacco and also Mainstream smoke which is the smoke that the person smoking inhales. Although the smoke that the smoker inhales is very dangerous and harmful to the body, the smoke off of a burning cigarette actually contains more harmful substances due to the smoke not being filtered when coming off of the end of the cigarette. The people being harmed the most by secondhand smoke happens to be children. Children have no choice but to endure the secondhand smoke coming off of their

Nowadays, smoking causes cancers, for example, lung cancer, esophageal cancer, oral cancer, etc. become a common sense. Instead those well-known diseases, there are some researches shown that if women smoke during pregnancy, it would increase the risk of pregnancy complications, premature delivery, low-birth-weight infants and sudden infant death syndrome. Besides, there is a research tells that cigarette smoking might be associated with erectile dysfunctions, which is a big issue in Chinese culture. Related to elderly, a research has shown that smoking is related to nuclear cataracts. Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness. The risk of developing cataracts for smokers is two to three times as nonsmokers (Surgeon General's Report, 2004).

Tobacco smoking in any form constitutes a major risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension (HTN), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), oral, nasopharyngeal, bronchial and other visceral malignancies6 . Smoking 1-4 cigarettes per day significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease7. Smoking also increases the risk of thrombosis8 (8). Smokers are 3 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than the non smokers. Smokeless tobacco users have a higher incidence of diabetes

The effects of cigarette smoking can be horrifying. Smoking is dangerous not only to those who smoke, but to non-smokers and unborn children as well. Cigarette smoking is also physically and socially harming.

Since many of the carcinogens from cigarette are excreted through urine, it can cause bladder cancer. Stomach acid secretion increases due to smoking, leading to heartburn and ulcers. Smoking is known to cause deadly pancreatic cancer. Hazardous effects don’t end here. We are all aware of the fact that smoking not just affects the smoker, but also the people around the smokers. Cigarette contains thousands of chemicals which are exhaled and released into the air which will be inhaled by others. Passive smoking affects all the people around a smoker. One of my friends was a chain smoker. Because of his continues smoking habit at home, his kids developed severe respiratory problems. There are many such smokers in this world, who should be guided before it’s too late.

In today's world, it is easy for non-smokers to come into close corners with someone who smokes. Through second-hand smoking, people make a knowing choice not to smoke are sometimes forced to inhale the smoke coming from a tobacco users product. In the 21st century, second hand smoking is something that is finally starting to receive the attention it deserves. While there are few studies that exist to show statistical analysis of second-hand smoking (in part due to the lax consideration of it in generations prior), Americans are now wising up and beginning to crack down on banning smoking in their facilities. However, Drexel University seems to be behind the pack in implementing new policies designed to protect non-smokers. For the most part, the University continue to allow students crowd their building entranceways to get a smoke in between classes. Because the students tend to crowd around the doors, students entering or exiting the building will often unwillingly inhale the smoke. It is not fair for those who make a conscious decision to not smoke have to incur any of the consequences that are associated with ones who make that choice. With college campuses are where students spend the majority of their day, avoiding contact with it is almost impossible. According to the United States Department of Health, second-hand smoke has much higher levels of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide than the direct smoke a smoker inhales. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has

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