1/17/14
Cigarettes, cigars, and pipe tobacco are made from dried tobacco leaves, as well as ingredients added for flavor and to make smoking more pleasant. The smoke from these products is a complex mixture of chemicals produced by the burning of tobacco and its additives. The smoke is made up of more than 7,000 chemicals, including over 60 known to cause cancer. Some of these substances cause heart and lung diseases too, and all of them can be deadly.
Tobacco smoke also contains tar and the poison gases carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide. The ingredient that produces the effect people are looking for is nicotine, an addictive drug and one of the harshest chemicals in tobacco smoke.
Smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths in the United States and 87% of lung cancer deaths. Smoking also causes cancers of the nasopharynx , nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, lip, larynx, mouth, pharynx, esophagus, and bladder. It also has been linked to the development of cancers of the pancreas, cervix, ovary, colorectum, kidney, stomach, and some types of leukemia. Cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and spit and other types of smokeless tobacco all cause cancer.
Damage to the lungs begins early in smokers, and cigarette smokers have a lower level of lung function than non-smokers of the same age. Lung function continues to worsen as long as the person smokes, but it may take years for the problem to become noticeable enough for lung disease to be diagnosed. Smoking causes many lung diseases that can be nearly as bad as lung cancer.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a name for long-term lung disease which includes both chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD most often starts unnoticed in young smokers, and usually gets far worse before it’s diagnosed. Noises in the chest, such as wheezing, rattling, or whistling, shortness of breath during activity, and coughing up mucus are some of the earlier signs of COPD. COPD can make it hard to breathe