The Effects Of Smoke Related Illness On The United States Essay

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).

Cigarettes don’t only cause lung cancers but can also cause other problems to the heart and blood vessels. Some other cancers associated with smoking include larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, stomach, and some other organs.

Also, the number of people who die from damage caused by smoking is five times greater than all other preventable deaths, considering traffic accidents, fires and other accidents, suicides, murders, and HIV. Finally, each year U.S. has spent $96,000 billion in medical expenses related to smoking (CDC, 2012).

Many drugs are used, misused, and abused in American society today. Some of these carry stigma in the general population, forcing users into an underground drug subculture. Others are accepted and almost promoted under certain circumstances. Tobacco is one of those drugs. Tobacco will be discussed in the context of cigarette smoking. This is not to undermine the existence or danger of other forms of tobacco, but instead to have an exhaustive discussion of cigarette smoking and its societal impact. Cigarettes are a means of inhaling tobacco, where it enters the lungs and is absorbed through the blood vessels, traveling to the heart, from which it is finally pumped to the brain (Hogan, Gabrielsen, Luna, and Grothaus 2003:76). Cigarettes are detrimental to society because they not only affect the user who chooses to smoke; they impact people around them through second-hand and residual smoke. The damage done by cigarettes is not impossible to address. Successful prevention measures are already in place, but this paper intends to suggest other more direct measures, especially related to statutory regulations.

Tobacco use is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. No matter what the degree of smoking, it will increase the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke, etc. In 2015, the smoking rate in the United States is 15.1%, which means 36.5 million Americans smoking currently. Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. And of these deaths, more than 41,000 were due to exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke can cause the same health issue as smoking. Every year, the healthcare cost related to the smoking illness is more than $300 billion in the United States.

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).

The negative health effects of tobacco use have been well established. Tobacco use has been shown to cause acute and chronic respiratory disease, heart disease, many types of cancer, and is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States, causing an estimated 443,000 deaths per year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2004). As the dangers of smoking have become better understood, reducing the number of people who smoke has become a major focus for those interested in public health. Efforts to restrict the advertisement and sale of tobacco, implement public smoking bans, and educate citizens through public service announcements have all had a sizeable effect on smoking rates in the U.S. In Fact, over

Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. Nicotine addiction is a serious and expensive problem. Smokers have decreased productivity and on average make less than non-smokers. Smoking is lethal to the human body through heart disease, respiratory illness, and increased likelihood and mortality of cancer.

It causes cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix, as well as acute myeloid leukemia” (Anonymous, nd, para. 6). Several hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent every year on the treatment of cancer due to smoking.

For years cigarettes have been known to cause cancer, emphysema, and other horrible illnesses. The deaths of over 420,000 Americans this year will be attributable to cigarettes. With some of the other causes of preventable deaths such as, alcohol, illegal drugs, AIDS, suicide, transportation accidents, fires, and guns, cigarettes still account for more preventable deaths than those do combined, as stated by Lonnie Bristow M.D. of the American Medical Association at her speech to Indiana University. Some researchers have also found that smoking by pregnant women causes the deaths of over 5,000 babies and 115,000 miscarriages. The best way to get rid of the suffering and loss of life by cigarettes is to ban them. We can no longer stand aside and watch fellow Americans die because they smoke cigarettes. Thousands of smokers try to rid

Now, more than ever, more and more people are beginning to look at tobacco use as a major public health concern. It is nineteen ninety nine, and the number of smokers is rising while the average age of smoking initiation decreases. There are those that believe using tobacco of any type should be illegal, or at least restricted. Others believe it is up to the person to choose whether to use tobacco products or not, however most of these people believe tobacco companies should warn their customers of their products harmful affects.

Smoking can cause a significantly amount of damage to the lungs, such as pneumonia, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), upper respiratory infection, emphysema, asthma, bronchitis, wheezing, colds and smoker's cough. This chronic cough is the attempting to get rid of the poisonous fumes you're inhaling on a daily basis. Smoking can lead to an average of 84% of deaths from lung cancer and approximately 83% of deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease, including bronchitis. Skin

As you can see from figure 1; nearly 500,000 die each year in the U.S as a result of smoking.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year, with more than 41,000 of these deaths from exposure to secondhand smoke. In addition, smoking-related illness in the United States costs more than $300 billion a year, including nearly $170 billion in direct medical care for adults and $156 billion in lost productivity, Center For Disease Control (CDC 2017).

Cigarette smokers are two to four times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than non-smokers, and tobacco use doubles risk for stroke. It also causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels, and it causes premature wrinkles because it constricts the oxygen and warmth from all parts of the body so the skin ages faster.