Smoking

2 Pages 551 Words

Why has cigarette smoking increased in today’s generation? You go out and you see people of all ages; starting from ten and even younger to 70 years of age smoking. It seems to have become an epidemic, and the reason for this is simple. Peer pressure, stress and trying to live up the image of being “cool”. But do these people actually know what the consequences of their actions are. It’s simple, death.
The oxford dictionary defines a cigarette as a roll of shredded tobacco in thin paper used for smoking and smoking this cigarette is considered to be one of the most serious but preventable health problems facing the world. The very common health problems of smoking are Bronchitis, Emphysema, Lung Cancer, and Coronary Heart Disease, the last two being the most common and increased health problem in the past few years.
I am going to discuss the most common problems caused by smoking: Lung Cancer and Coronary Heart Disease.
Lung Cancer is an abnormal and uncontrollable growth of the cells, which deprive the lungs of its basic requirements resulting in the failure of the lungs. In the past generation, statistics have shown a relationship between lung cancer and smoking, and that there are 17 compounds present in the cigarette tobacco, which can cause cancer. To show the relationship between the two, The Research Department of the American Cancer Society performed an extensive study of over 400 men at an autopsy. The report was based on nearly 20,000 lung sections, which showed that changes in the air passageways varied dramatically with the amount of cigarettes smoked. The reports indicated that people who smoked between 1 to 14 a day, increased the risk of lung cancer 8 times, The ones who smoked 15 to 24 a day, increase their risk by 13 times. For those who smoked over 25 a day, increase their risk by 25 times. Finally by 1965, The US Public Health Service stated and concluded that smoking is the principle cause of...