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The Effects of Smoking

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Smoking: Effects on Facial Skins Causing more than 400,000 deaths each year, smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Additionally, the direct medical costs amount more than $50 billion per year. More people are harmed and killed by smoking every year than they die of alcohol, drug abuse, AIDS, murders, car crashes, fires, and suicides. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,700 chemicals, over 200 poisons, and over 50 human carcinogens. The toxins in cigarette smoke include carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and methyl- isocyanate (Yarkony, 1993). The cigarette smoke contains nitrosamines, which cause cancer of the lung, respiratory system, and other organs; aromatic amines, which lead to the bladder and breast cancer; formaldehyde, which bring about nasal cancer; and benzene, which induce leukemia. Smoking also affects pregnant woman very badly. Developmental growth and birth weight in babies of smoking mothers is lower than babies of non-smoking mothers. Babies with low birth weights are more prone to infections and other illnesses that can cause longer-term health problems or death. The risk of having a baby with a low birth weight can be two to three times as great in pregnant women who smoke compared to those who do not smoke. Underweight babies are often sick with lots of health problems and are more likely to need special care and stay longer in the hospital. Effects on Facial Skin Besides the other harmful effects of smoking, smoking

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