Questions About Smoking, Tobacco, and Health
Is there a safe way to smoke?
No. All cigarettes can damage the human body. Any amount of smoke is dangerous. Cigarettes are perhaps the only legal product whose advertised and intended use--smoking-- is harmful to the body and causes cancer.
Although some people try to make their smoking habit safer by smoking fewer cigarettes, many smokers find that hard to do. Some people think that switching from high tar and nicotine cigarettes to low tar and nicotine content makes smoking safer, but this is not always true. When people switch to lower tar and nicotine brands, they often smoke more cigarettes or more of each cigarette to get the same nicotine dose as before.
Is cigarette smoking really addictive?
Yes. The nicotine in cigarette smoke causes an addiction to smoking. Nicotine is an addictive drug--just like heroin and cocaine--for 3 main reasons.
When taken in small amounts, nicotine creates pleasant feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more.
Smokers usually become dependent on nicotine and suffer withdrawal symptoms when they stop smoking. These symptoms include nervousness, headaches, irritability, and difficulty in sleeping.
What does nicotine do?
Nicotine is a poison and in large doses can kill a person by stopping breathing muscles. Smokers usually take in small amounts that the body can quickly break down and get rid of. The first dose of nicotine causes a person to feel awake and alert, while later doses result in a calm, relaxed feeling. Nicotine can make new smokers, and regular smokers who get too much of it, feel dizzy or sick to their stomachs. The resting heart rate for young smokers increases 2 to 3 beats per minute. It also lowers skin temperature and reduces blood flow in the legs and feet. Nicotine plays an important role in increasing smokers' risk of heart disease and stroke.
Who is most likely to become addicted?
Anyone who starts smoking is at risk of becoming addicted to nicotine. Studies show that cigarette smoking is most likely to become a habit during the teen years. When young people become cigarette smokers they are more likely to become addicted. They are also more likely to suffer from the health problems caused by cigarette smoking.
If you smoke but don't inhale, is there any danger?
Yes. Wherever smoke touches living cells, it does harm. Even if smokers don't inhale they are breathing the smoke as secondhand smoke and are still at risk for lung cancer. Pipe and cigar smokers are also at an increased risk for lip, mouth, and tongue cancers.
Does cigarette smoking affect the heart?
Yes. Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of heart disease, which is America's number one cause of death. Smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, physical inactivity, obesity, and diabetes are all risk factors for heart disease, but cigarette smoking is the biggest risk factor for sudden heart death. Also, smokers who have a heart attack are more likely to die within an hour of the heart attack than nonsmokers.
How does smoking affect pregnant women and their babies?
Pregnant women who smoke risk the health and lives of their unborn babies. Smoking during pregnancy is linked with a greater chance of spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, infant deaths, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Up to 10% of infant deaths could be prevented if pregnant women did not smoke.
When a pregnant woman smokes, she’s smoking for two. The nicotine, carbon monoxide and other harmful chemicals enter her bloodstream, pass directly into the baby’s body, and prevent the baby from getting essential nutrients and oxygen for growth.
What are some of the short- and long-term effects of smoking cigarettes?
Smoking causes many types of cancer, which may not develop for years. The truth is cigarette smokers die younger than nonsmokers. In fact, according to a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study conducted in the late 1990s,smoking shortened male smokers’ lives by 13.2 years and female smokers’ lives by14.5 years. Both men and women who smoke are much more likely to die during middle age (between the ages of 35 and 69) compared to those who have never smoked.
There are many more short-term effects of smoking. A major consequence of smoking is decreased lung function. Because of this smokers often suffer from shortness of breath, nagging coughing, or tiring easily during strenuous physical activity. Smoking also diminishes the ability to smell and taste and causes premature aging of skin.
Can quitting really help a lifelong smoker?
Yes. It is never too late to quit. The sooner smokers quit, the more they can reduce their chances of getting cancer and other diseases. Within 20 minutes of smoking the last cigarette, the body begins to restore itself.
Are menthol cigarettes safer than other brands?
Menthol cigarettes are not safer than other brands and may even be more dangerous. About one-fourth of all cigarettes sold in the US are menthol. These brands contain enough menthol to produce a cool sensation in the throat when smoke is inhaled. People who smoke menthol cigarettes can inhale more deeply or hold the smoke inside longer than smokers of non-menthol cigarettes.