People who smoke cigarettes are at
high risks of getting many dangerous diseases including lung Cancer, blood
cancer and many others. The risks of cigarettes to human health is not new,
even a pack of cigarette itself contains a warning message like
"Cigarettes smoking is dangerous to your health". Cigarettes smoke
(Tobacco) contains three main dangers; Nicotine, Tar, and Carbon monoxide,
Nicotine is the chemical that causes addiction but it is the Tar that is
responsible for the biggest health risks, including many types of cancer.
Today I'll show you the danger of
tar to your health, some people says "Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day
is equivalent of drinking a cup of tar a year". I didn't confirm such
statement whether it is scientifically true or not, may be they just relating
the dangers of cigarettes smoking. Follow me on this article you will discover
the danger effects of cigarettes tar, firstly let understand clearly the
meaning of 'Tar'
Tar is the common name for the
resinous, partially combusted particulate matter produced by the burning of
tobacco and other plant material in the act of smoking. Tar is toxic and
damages the smoker's lungs over time through various biochemical and mechanical
processes.
Cigarette tar can also be
described as the toxic chemical particles left behind by burning tobacco. This
substance forms a tacky brown or yellow residue. It is not the same as tar used
on road surfaces.
Tar is found in any tobacco
product that is burned. The level of tar increases as the item is burnt down.
The last puffs on a cigarette can contain as much as twice the amount of tar as
the first puffs.
The most visible sign of tobacco
tar is the yellow brown staining on smoker's fingers and teeth. Because smoke
is drawn directly through the mouth, the tar can contribute to gum disease and
oral cancer as well.
It damages the mouth by rotting
and blackening teeth, damaging gums, and desensitizing taste buds. Tar includes
the majority of mutagenic and carcinogenic agents in tobacco smoke. Polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), for example, are genotoxicvia.
In the lungs, Tar coats and
paralyzes the cilia causing them to stop working and eventually die, causing
conditions such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer as the toxic
particles in tobacco smoke are no longer trapped by the cilia but enter the
alveoli directly. Thus, the alveoli cannot come through with the process that
is called ‘gas exchange’ which is the cause of rough
breathing.
The tar does not only affect your
lungs but also can affect every organ in your body and beyond cancer, can lead
to heart disease, diabetes, and even affect fertility. These diseases occur
because cigarette tar toxins can be carried into the bloodstream and begin moving
to other parts of your body.
Most cigarettes have filters that
thought to trap harmful tar and nicotine residues, these filters were first
added in the 1950s when it was reported that the tar in tobacco was associated
with an increased risk of lung cancer. Later it was discovered that still
people who are smoking cigarettes are victims of diseases associated with
tobacco toxins, therefore the use of filters in cigarettes never worked as well
as hoped. This means that plenty of toxins still penetrate in the filter and
move into the smoker's lungs, exposing them to the risks of smoking-related
disease.
According to Scientific research
tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals. The majority are found in the tar
produced by smoking cigarettes. Two hundred fifty of those chemicals including
carbon monoxide, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide are known to be harmful to
smokers and people exposed to secondhand smoke. Of those, 69 are known to cause
cancer.
The concentration of tar in a
cigarette determines its rating. High tar cigarettes (regular or full flavor)
contained 15 milligrams (mg) or more of tar. Medium tar (light) cigarettes had
6 to 15 mg, and low tar (extra light or ultra-light) cigarettes contained 1 to
6 mg of tar.
The average amount of tar in cigarettes
was lowered from 38 mg and 2.7 mg nicotine in 1954 to 12 mg of tar and 0.95 mg
of nicotine. It remains at that level today.
Apart from smoking cigarettes, other people may come across
with the environments where cigarettes, cigars,
pipes, and rolling tobacco have been smoked, this health threat is called
thirdhand smoke. The smoke from these environments can even affect people who
are not smoking and are around there, you may not smoke but if you trap smoke
accidentally from person who is smoking, may cause strokes and other danger
effects. To learn more about the harmful effects of of secondhand or thirdhand smoke CLICK HERE.
CONCLUSION
If you understand well about the
dangers of cigarettes smoking you may decide yourself whether to quit smoking
or not. Sudden quit of cigarette smoking is very difficult for most people, but
if you plan to quit smoking you may start slowly by reducing the number of
cigarettes you were smoking per day, you may continue reducing until you quit
permanently.
If you've any opinions about this
article, let me know by leaving your thoughts on comments section below. Don't
miss our future posts, See you next time!.
Posted by: Lusubilo A. Mwaijengo
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