Tobacco and Disease

Most people want to live long, healthy lives. Smoking tobacco causes just the opposite to happen. Smoking shortens a person’s life. Continuous, heavy smoking damages the lining of the trachea, bronchi and lungs. It also triggers diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer.

In emphysema, the alveoli in the lungs break apart. As you know, the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place in the alveoli. The slow destruction of alveoli causes the smoker to work harder for each breath. Normally you use about five percent of your energy in breathing. A person with emphysema may expend as much as 80 percent of body energy in gasping for a breath. Even walking short distances may cause exhaustion.

Lung cancer is the most serious and often fatal disease caused by smoking. Every year 150 000 new cases of lung cancer are reported. Lung cancer often takes a long time to develop. Most people with this type of cancer are 55 to 75 years old and have smoked from an early age. Lung cancer is the most difficult of all cancers to treat. Fewer than ten percent of those with lung cancer live five years. Smoking accounts for more than 85 percent of all lung cancers.

Heart disease, circulatory problems and strokes are also common in smokers. Recall that nicotine causes the heart to beat faster, while carbon monoxide and oxygen compete for hemoglobin. This places a strain on the heart. Nicotine also constricts or narrows, blood vessels. Narrowed blood vessels boost the blood pressure. High blood pressure and an overworked heart increases the risk of heart disease and strokes.