Tobacco & Health
In our time, it's difficult to miss all the ads and messages that tobacco is unhealthy, with all the research and studies that have been done. Its common knowledge to everyone that tobacco is a very harmful substance, the leading cause of preventable death. As Christians, we are not to inflict our bodies with hazardous toxins. "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s." (1 Cor. 6:19,20). Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Ghost. We are to keep ourselves healthy. Very few users of tobacco will deny that tobacco is unhealthy. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:17). A user of tobacco that continues using the substance, even though they know it is harmful is sinning. These people, who continue using tobacco, although they know it is dangerous, are using it because they are addicted to it. As we've already said, addiction is also sin. "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;" (1 Pet. 2:11).
Another issue with Christians using tobacco is the testimonial aspect. There are many lost people who think using tobacco is wrong. I know many members of the temperance movement and anti-tobacco advocates who are not religious people. It's sad that there are many lost people today who have higher standards then "Bible-believing" Christians. "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold." (Prov. 22:1). "And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." (Php. 3:9-11).
To communicate, the various systems of the body rely on different chemical messengers. Hormones are chemicals that control local organ functions and mitigate body wide responses. Cytokines are chemicals that activate or suppress the immune system, the body's defense against bacteria and viruses. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that help transmit impulses across the spaces between nerve cells and sometimes between nerve and muscle cells.
In addition to these messengers, there are also enzymes. Enzymes are chemicals that control chemical reactions such as digesting different elements in food and breaking down chemicals to be excreted. The average body is a complex chemical system made up of hormones, cytokines, neurotransmitters and enzymes. Smoking adds thousands of random chemicals to this mixture. Nicotine is the most well-known of these chemicals. We've already discussed the grave dangers of nicotine, as it badly affects the brain and other parts of the body. Tobacco smoke contains many other chemicals that can cause the body harm as well.
One ingredient found in tobacco smoke is tar. If someone were to blow smoke on tissue it would leave a yellow-brown stain. That stain is tar.
When many people hear the word tar, the sticky black substance used to surface streets may come to mind. Very similar to that tar, the tiny particles in cigarette smoke melt in the two-thousand degree heat near the tip of a lit cigarette. Those particles carry nicotine into the lungs. The tar turns solid in the lungs, getting stuck in one of the body's most important systems-the pulmonary system.
The hair like structures, called cilia, grows from the walls of the air passages in the lungs. The job of the cilia is to push foreign substances away from the lungs and back to the bronchial tubes where they will be coughed up.
Unfortunately, something in cigarette smoke paralyzes the cilia tar particles and mucus gathers in the air passages, blocking the path of oxygen. These sticky blockages are what causes a smoker's cough. This is when a smoker is constantly hacking up the debris from cigarette smoke.
Alveoli are tiny balloon shaped structures and are the smallest passageway in the respiratory system. The alveoli are very thin, allowing the easy passage of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the alveoli and blood vessels. Tar particles are so tiny they can invade even the smallest of alveoli. Once they're in place, they usually don't come out. When a smoker's lungs are x-rayed, their lungs have black specks all over them.
A harmful gas that enters the body from cigarette smoke is carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless. It is created by combustion and whether on a car engine, a fire or the tip of a cigarette. In a high enough quantity, carbon monoxide is poisonous.
If you magnify carbon monoxide, you would see it has one oxygen atom bound to a carbon atom. Carbon dioxide, a natural gas in the body, has one carbon atom bonded to two oxygen atoms. This difference has a huge impact on the way the two gases act in the human body.
When the heart-lung system is working correctly, oxygen bonds to hemoglobin, a chemical in red blood cells, and travel through the body to help cells create energy. Carbon dioxide dissolves into the liquid part of the blood, which is called plasma. Earth's atmosphere usually contains 210,000 parts per million of oxygen, 600 parts per million of carbon dioxide and only 0.2 parts per million of carbon monoxide.
When a smoker breathes in cigarette smoke their fraction of carbon monoxide is more like 500 to 1,500 parts per million. Once inside the lungs, carbon monoxide disrupts the breathing system. The issue is that carbon monoxide molecules bind better to hemoglobin then oxygen. The poison gas molecules push oxygen out of the way. As tar blocks the flow of air through the lungs, carbon monoxide cuts down the amount of oxygen that reaches the blood-stream. The heart has to work harder to get more blood moving through the lungs to make up for the missing oxygen. The result is an additional strain on both organs, as well as a decrease in the oxygen supply to the heart ane brain. For healthy people, the amount of carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke can cause headaches and flu-like symptoms. For smokers already with heart disease, carbon monoxide exposure can cause chest pain.
Probably the most well-known health hazard of tobacco is that it causes cancer. As cancer cells multiply, they form damaging growths and can spread to other sites in the body. Cancer can be caused by a virus, radiation, sunlight or chemicals. Tobacco smoke contains a number of cancer-causing chemicals as does smokeless tobacco. Tobacco is the leading cause of cancer deaths.
DNA contains the blueprint for cells. This is known as the genetic code or what most people simply refer to as genes. Genes determine the exterior and interior structure of the body. They ensure that organs grow in proper places and reach correct sizes. As a person grows up, oncogenes in the nucleus of tissue cells control how often those cells divide. The plan is to create only enough tissue cells to replace those that die. Genes can be damaged, either by radiation or chemicals called carcinogens. Oncogenes repair damage, or if the damage can't be fixed, they program the cell to self-destruct. However, sometimes mutated cells survive. They become abnormal and reproduce uncontrollably. This is when cancer begins.
After abnormal cells reproduce twenty-five to thirty times, the clump of cancerous cells has become a mass approximately half an inch wide, containing billions of cells. This growth is called a tumor and continues to get bigger, invading and damaging healthy tissues around it. Cancers are named for the parts of the body where they originate, hence the terms lung cancer, stomach cancer, brain cancer etc.
Cancer cells can also invade the blood vessels or the lymph system, part of the body's defenses against outside organisms. Cells can break off from the original tumor and travel the blood and lymph systems like cars on a highway, creating new tumors in other parts of the body. This is called metastasis. When cancer is treated too late and has spread to too many important organs is when the patient faces a painful, lingering death. A 1989 surgeon general's report listed forty-three known carcinogens in cigarette smoke.
While it wasn't until the 1950s, that is was officially "proven" and become widely known to the public that smoking caused cancer, there was speculation of this centuries earlier. As early as 1602 an English writer commented on the soot-related diseases of chimney sweeps and suggested that tobacco smoke could have the same effects. Over the next two-hundred years, some physicians noted that pipe smokers got cancer of the mouth and snuff-takers got cancer of the nose. In the 1700s, lung cancer was discovered even though it was a very rare disease. In 1900, lung cancer was still very rare. But by 1948, lung cancer had become widespread due to the explosion of cigarette smoking.
Today, lung cancer is the number one cancer in the world. It's the second most common cancer among Americans and the most deadly. Smoking kills around 440,000 people a year in the U.S. Lung cancer and about a dozen other types of cancers accounted for all 150,000 of these deaths. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable and premature death in the world today.
In terms of life expectancy, male smokers lost about thirteen years of their life and females lose fourteen and a half years. The threat of cancer plays a big part in shortening smokers' lives. Smokers are ten times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers. Smokers are also ten times more likely to get cancer of the mouth, tongue, nasal passages, gums, throat, voice box and esophagus. Smokers also face a risk of bladder cancer, which is two to three times more likely for them than nonsmokers. Smoking also doubles the risk for stomach cancer. In addition, smokers are more likely to develop cancer in the kidney, pancreas, liver, cervix, colon and rectum then nonsmokers. Smokers also have a higher chance of getting leukemia.
As we already described, nicotine puts a lot of strain on the heart. But it's not just nicotine. Cigarette smoke contains other chemicals that damage the heart and blood vessels.
2003 CDC figures showed that more than 99,000 cardiovascular disease deaths were linked to smoking. Nicotine pushes the heart to work ten to twenty, beats faster per minute. Nicotine also causes the blood vessels to constrict, pushing up blood pressure five to ten points. These, though, are only the short-term effects of tobacco smoke on the heart. the long-term effects of smoking can be much worse.
One condition that smoking has been connected with is atherosclerosis. This is a disease of the hardening of the arteries. Arteries are complex structures, made to be strong and flexible. They must withstand the rush of freshly pumped blood. Arteries must be able to expand or close down to perform these functions, artery walls are made of alternating layers of expandable tissue and muscle cells.
The artery wall thickens as fatty deposits gather. This causes the innermost layer of the artery to become damaged. The growth of these plaques causes the arteries to become less elastic. The growth of plaques narrows the inside of the artery. This can also lead to plaques breaking which creates blood clots and completely blocks an artery.
Medical researchers are still trying to understand exactly what causes atherosclerosis. Obesity, high cholesterol and lack of exercise seem to also contribute to getting atherosclerosis. When the arteries of smokers are compared to those of nonsmokers, smokers have less flexibility in the blood vessels and larger plaque deposits. Smoking accelerates the hardening of arteries.
Smokers have issues with their blood as well. The carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke, bonds with red blood cells, cutting down the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. Chemicals in cigarette smoke make blood thicker which causes blood clots. A blood clot inside the body can be dangerous. If a blood clot catches where plaques have already partially blocked a blood vessel, it can reduce blood flow or cut it off altogether. Blood may not reach the legs, causing pain and weakness. If blood doesn't reach the kidneys, it can result in a build-up of poisons in the body. A clot can possibly cut off blood supply to the heart muscles, which would cause a heart attack.
Damage to heart muscles can disrupt the function of the organ. Around 82,000 people die from smoking-related heart attacks each year.
According to Action on Smoking & Health (ASH), an anti-smoking group, smokers are sixteen times more likely than nonsmokers to experience obstructed blood vessels in the legs and feet. Thus, smokers have an increased chance of having a stroke.
A stroke or a cerebral thrombosis, as it is professionally called, occurs when a blocked artery cuts off the flow of blood to the brain. The result may be blindness in one eye or bluriness in both. Victims of strokes also have difficulty speaking. Numbness, weakness or paralysis may occur on one side of the body. The condition might last for a few seconds or go on for hours. If the attack last for less than an hour there may be no brain damage. The episode is called a transient ischemic attack and is considered a warning of a stroke. Heavy smokers (those who smoke twenty or more cigarettes a day) are two to four times more likely to suffer a stroke in their lifetimes.
A stroke is sometimes called a brain attack. Quick medical attention can make a big difference in survival. When blood is cut off to the brain, none of the cells receive oxygen, resulting in brain cells dying. Depending on which part of the brain is damaged, symptoms can include blurry vision, memory loss, speech problems, a sudden drop in the muscles on one side of the face, inability to move one's arm, leg or both and paralysis of half the body.
About twenty percent of stroke victims die in the hospital within a month of the attack. Among those deaths are more than seventeen-thousand smokers.
When an individual smokes cigarettes they inhale four-thousand chemicals into their body. The most operative of these chemicals is nicotine. It interacts largely with the brain and body. When nicotine and other substances in tobacco smoke interact with medications it could cause a medicine to be less effective, increase the action of a drug or bring about an unexpected side effect.
As nicotine enters the body, it causes numerous reactions in different organs throughout the body. These reactions counteract the effects of some drugs.
Theophylline is a medicine that opens the passages that channel air into the lungs. Nicotine causes these air passages to tighten up, countering the effect of the drug. Theophylline is part of many medications for asthma, therefore many patients have trouble breathing if they smoke and take theophylline. People with asthma and other breathing conditions are urged not to smoke.
As already discussed, another result of nictone intake is a narrowing of blood vessels which causes a rise in blood pressure. People who have hypertension (high blood pressure) may need to have the dose of their hypertension medicine altered if they smoke.
Since nicotine also makes the heart beat faster, certain medicines prescribed for heart disease often have more difficulty controlling cardiac problems if the patient smokes.
A major problem with smokers and medications is that nicotine stimulates the liver to produce extra enzymes. Enzymes released from the liver help to breakdown medications in the bloodstream. The added enzymes from nicotine can eliminate medicine in the blood too quickly, reducing or completely halting the effectiveness of medication. Thus, physicians are faced with the task of administering a safe, adjusted dose to smokers.
Smoking has been shown to deviate the effectiveness of a wide range of drugs. Cigarettes interfere with blood thinning medications such as Heparin and pain medicines, Talwin and Parvon. Some types of anti-anxiety drugs like Librium and Walium may be adversely affected. Nicotine also reduces the effects of anti-psychotic prescriptions chlorpromazine, clozapine and olanzapine. Some antidepressant drugs have a reduced effect as well.
Tobacco smoking also effects insulin production, a condition people with diabetes have. Nicotine is also known to cause erectile dysfunction. Even men who take stimulants such as Viagra have reported to still have issues, probably because nicotine delivers poor blood circulation.
Perhaps the most dangerous thing that nicotine can be mixed with is...more nicotine. How could someone mix nicotine with more nicotine? By smoking and using nicotine replacement therapies. These therapies include the patch, gum, lozenges (hard candy) and inhaled nicotine spray. Instructions on the containers of these products make it clear that the user cannot take any tobacco products while using the treatment.
Nicotine replacement products deliver abbreviated doses of nicotine, reducing the level of nicotine as time progresses in hope that nicotine cravings will cease. Smoking, dipping or chewing tobacco while taking nicotine replacement can put more nicotine in the body then it can handle. Nicotine is, after all, a poison. High nicotine levels can cause toxic reactions in the body. These symptoms can be: cold sweat, dizziness, nausea, rapid heartbeat, weakness, drooling, confusion and even fainting.
Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in California were studying the way nicotine breaks down in the body in 2002. They discovered that one of the products in that breakdown does a bit more than anyone previously thought. This substance is called nornicotine.
Nornicotine is a natural chemical in tobacco and tobacco smoke. Unlike nicotine, which breaks down quickly, nornicotine remains in the bloodstream.
Nornicotine acts a catalyst, a substance that causes chemical reactions to occur. In the past, scientists thought that only enzymes did this. They have now found that nornicotine interacts in important bodily reactions like turning sugar glucose into energy or affecting medications. Experiments have concluded that nornicotine reacts with prescription steroids like cortisone and prednisone, possibly making them more toxic. There could also be reactions with antibiotics. Research continues to see what else nornicotine may do to the body.
The mouth is a major gateway to the body. It gives entry to food, air and also germs, pollen and pollutants. The mouth must serve as one of the first lines of defense for the body. Saliva is more than "mouth juice." It is actually a mixture of mucus and enzymes, substances which trigger chemical changes such as breaking down proteins, which helps to destroy bacteria in the mouth. Saliva traps bacteria and rinses and cleans the mouth.
People, who use tobacco, whether that is cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chew or dip, always have an affected mouth. Continual exposure to cigarette smoke makes the mouth the secondary deposit site for nicotine, tar and the numerous chemicals that enter the body with every inhaling puff.
When people mention the health hazards of tobacco, they usually compliment about heart disease, cancer and strokes. However, some consequences come early in a tobacco user's life. The mouth deals with the health damage on a regular basis and this damage can be some of the most notable changes. This can be disfigurement in the face.
All forms of tobacco cause damage to the gums in the mouth. Smokers are much more likely to get calculus, hardened dental plaque that forms on the lower section of teeth under the gums. Plaque is a sticky combination of mucus, bacteria and tiny food particles. As the plaque hardens, bacteria in the calculus attack the tissues of the gums, creating pockets that fill with more bacteria, which attack more gum tissue. The skin of the gums begins to pull away from the teeth. If the condition continues, it can lead to a loss of bone, connective tissues and teeth.
Tobacco users, whether smokers, chewers or dippers, are the leading demographic of people with lost teeth because of gums being swollen and receding form the teeth. The American Academy of Periodontology, the branch of dentistry concerned with gum health, warms that smoking accelerates gum disease.
Another way smokers contribute to bad dental health is by using lots of breath mints. Many smokers use breath mints to cover up their bad breath from smoking. Breath mints are high in sugar and this adds to tooth decay. Also, as we already stated, smoking causes a reduction of oxygen in teh blood. With less oxygen and fewer nutrients, gum tissues heal slower and are more prone to infection.
Dippers and chewers usually have deep receding gums. They also have open sores in the mouth and gums. This can lead to leukoplakia, precancerous growths in the mouth.
In the last twenty years, dental research has also found that a combination of smoking and gum disease and lead to other ailments. A study reported in the Journal of Periodontology suggests that chemicals in tobacco smoke may create a favorable environment for bacteria that cause gum disease. Ongoing research is taking place to see if smoking causes the release of enzymes that inflame and harm gum tissue.
Researchers are also beginning to believe that gum disease bacteria release toxins that travel through the bloodstream. These toxins could be responsible for the inflammation in blood vessels that is connected with cardiovascular disease. Some of these chemical agents could also help in creating the blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes.
When the tar from tobacco smoke mixes with saliva it coats teeth with a dark yellow color. Every time a smoker lights up a new smoke, a new coat is applied.
After a few years of smoking, tobacco stains the outside of the teeth. As time goes by, discoloration becomes hard, even for a dentist to remove and the staining becomes permanent. Teeth end up having a brownish color and can also show increased wear on the biting surface.
What smoking does to the mouth happens quickly and the results are very public. Stained teeth, bad breath and gapped-teeth are hard to ignore. A Christian with this appearance from smoking is a very bad testimony. "Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful." (Rom. 7:13). "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Col. 3:4). " Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all." (1 Tim. 4:15).
Seeing that smoking decreases oxygen in the body, it's probably no surprise that smoking causes respiratory disease. The respiratory system involves many delicate mechanisms and numerous safeguards to bring oxygen into the body and expel carbon dioxide. Some structures in the lungs are only one cell thick, meaning they can easily be damaged by the chemicals in tobacco smoke.
The tar in tobacco smoke causes immediate damage. Lung conditions connected with smoking are chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma. Any blockage in the airway between the mouth, nose and blood vessels in the lungs can quickly become a matter of life and death. When people encounter smoke from a fire, vehicle exhaust or pollution, their natural reaction is to cough. A smoker breathes in smoke every day and their lungs "learn" to tolerate this smoke. However just because lungs don't respond to every bit of smoke inhaled, that certainly doesn't mean the lungs aren't irritated.
The bronchial tubes or bronchi for short are the gateways to the lungs. Special cells in the lining of the bronchial tubes secrete a sticky substance called mucus to trap intruding bacteria and dust particles. The inner lining of the tubes also have tiny hair like growths called cilia. The cilia work like very small fingers to push the mixture of mucus and debris toward the windpipe where it will be coughed up and expelled.
Simple and acute bronchitis occurs when bacteria or viruses attack the walls of the bronchial tubes. Cells become irritated and the bronchi become inflamed. Anyone who has experienced a bad cold or the flu has had acute bronchitis. It can also be caused by allergies, breaking dust or pollution but the most common cause is smoking.
Chemicals in cigarette smoke irritate the tissues lining the bronchial tubes, causing damage and inflammation. The bronchial walls become infected, extra mucus is secreted and coughing begins. If a person coughs up mucus daily for three months in two or more years, he or she is considered to have chronic bronchitis.
As the condition persists, normal coughing becomes less effective. Mucus clogs the airway, creating a bacteria-laden soup which can lead to more infections.
Damage from chronic bronchitis is irreversible. If a person keeps smoking as the disease progresses, the patient can end up so short of breath that he or she isn't able to do normal activities.
Emphysema is a medical condition in which the tissue of the lungs becomes damaged, making the transfer of oxygen to the blood vessels less efficient. Normal lung tissue is elastic. It changes size as you breathe in and out. Cigarette smoke damages lung tissue, especially the delicate walls of the alveoli, causing the alveoli to lose their stretching ability. Eventually the tiny air sacs tear and merge together.
Healthy lungs are composed of millions of alveoli. Diseased lungs lose alveoli and become larger. The surviving alveoli are also larger but there is more empty space and much less transfer tissue. Inhaled oxygen is trapped in these oversized air sacs without transference in the blood stream.
As alveoli are destroyed, less oxygen is absorbed by the body. The first sign of emphysema is usually the inability to catch one's breath. Depending on how much the lung is destroyed, a victim may not even be able to walk up a set of stairs or do any physical activity. Simply breathing can become a large task.
The biggest cause of emphysema is smoking. States and countries with a high percentage of smokers have a high percentage of emphysema cases. And, in turn, states and countries with a low percentage of smokers have fewer cases of emphysema. Ten to fifteen percent of smokers get emphysema. People with the disease often die of lung failure or from diseases that affect the lungs such as the flu or pneumonia.
When a person has both chronic bronchitis and emphysema, the condition is called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It is commonly called COPD. First, the victim has a mucus-heavy cough in the morning. As the day progresses, coughing continues bringing more mucus. During cold winters, patients experience frequent chest infections, coughing up yellow and green mucus. Then, there is wheezing of the lungs after coughing and shortness of breath. While physicians can ease symptoms by prescribing treatment, damage from COPD is irreversible.
Asthma is a condition in which air passages to the lungs become rapidly inflamed, causing the airways to narrow. People with asthma suffer from wheezing attacks and breathing difficulties. The disease can range from fairly mild attacks to episodes that threaten a person's life. No one knows when attacks will occur, how long they'll last or how severe they will be.
Asthma seems to be an allergic reaction, with the airways of sufferers responding to various triggers with greater sensitivity than those of the general population. Depending on the person's allergy, an episode can come with exposure to pollen, dust mites, animal dander, sulfites (a food preservative), cold air, asprin or other anti-inflammatory drugs. Exercise and stress can sometimes trigger an attack. Tobacco smoke is also a major cause for asthma.
At the present time, asthma can be controlled by various drugs in the forms of a pill and inhaler. Although, there is no cure for asthma, Research continues as there are unanswered questions about asthma. Why do some smokers develop asthma and others don't? Why do some parts of the country have more asthma cases then others?
Studies in the early 2000s showed a connection between mothers smoking during pregnancy and asthma in their children. A 2001 study by the University of Southern California made the link between pregnant mothers smoking and that of an infant's exposure to secondhand smoke, leading to the child developing asthma later in life. A 2004 study in Finland followed 58,841 children from birth to age seven. The study results showed that women who smoked more than ten cigarettes a day during pregnancy had a 36% chance of having a child who developed asthma by age seven. Women who smoked fewer than ten cigarettes a day delivered children with a 25% higher chance of developing asthma then nonsmoking mothers.
Speaking of mothers, we are now going to discuss women's health and tobacco use. While women had been involved in growing and manufacturing tobacco since colonial times, few women smoked or dipped snuff until the 1920s. British and American society frowned on the idea of women using tobacco.
In the early 1900s, tobacco companies began looking for new markets to advertise their products. Women were one demographic the companies aimed at. Female smoking rose every decade from the 1920s to the 1960s.
A 1993 report by the CDC revealed that 73% of the lady respondents wanted to quit or reduce smoking. Unfortunately, 80% reported they were not able to do so because of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. A 2001 study by NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) suggested that women may associate more situations and moods with smoking which creates triggers for nicotine cravings. The study also found that nicotine replacement therapy was less effective because women's body chemistry shifts more than men's because of menstruation.
In January of 2004, researchers of the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York studied computed tomography (CT) scans of patients for structural abnormalities. These x-ray images showed that female smokers were 2.7 times more likely to develop lung cancer then men who smoked the same amount. Even though there are fewer female smokers then males, there are almost as many women who get lung cancer as men from smoking. In April 2004, researchers at the Northwestern University of Chicago announced that lung cancer is an entirely different disease in men and women because of differences in women's body structure and growth, physical processes and body chemistry. They also pointed out that the rate of lung cancer in women had increased 600% between 1930 and 1997, rising 60% between 1990 and 2003. The rise was deemed an "epidemic."
While male smokers live 13.2 years less than nonsmoking men, female smokers live 14.5 years less than nonsmoking women.
Some studies have suggested that women may lack a gene that helps clean out carcinogens and repairs genetic damage from cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke. A 1999 Missouri study found a nonworking gene in many women exposed to secondhand smoke. Animal studies in 2004 found that female mice lacked a functioning gene involved in the creation of a particular enzyme, a body chemical that triggers chemical reactions. The enzyme creates a reaction that kills cancerous cells. As we said, these studies are only suggesting that women "may" lack a gene. Enough evidence hasn't been found to make this absolute.
We've already mentioned that pregnant women who smoke put their children of a greater risk for getting asthma; there are a host of other problems a child can have if his or her mom smoked during pregnancy. Pregnant mothers face a risk of miscarrying or going into premature labor. Children born to smoking mothers have a lower birth rate.
The CDC warns that women who smoke while pregnant are at a greater risk of losing the baby before his or her first birthday. Infants born to mothers who smoke are more likely to die of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), a medical condition in which seemingly healthy babies die in their sleep.
Children of smoking mothers also fall behind in their physical growth and intellectual development as they get older. Dr. Peter Fried, a Canadian researcher who has followed children whose mothers smoked in pregnancy since 1980, identified three problems in a 1999 report. The children were slower in developing speech, they suffered from impulsive behavior or hyperactivity and they scored slightly lower in intelligence testing.
Menopause marks the end of a woman's child-bearing years. Many changes take place within a woman's body chemistry during this time. Considering the large number of chemicals in tobacco smoke, it should be no surprise that smoking might affect this phase in a woman's life.
A 2001 study by Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston identified a chemical in cigarette smoke that kills eggs in the ovaries. Women are born with only a limited lifetime supply of eggs and face menopause when this supply runs slow. The damage caused by cigarettes can go unnoticed for years until a lady suddenly has no eggs left.
Osteoporosis is a condition that elderly ladies contend with. As women age, their bones become thicker, often breaking. Studies have shown that smoking seems to accelerate bone loss.
Children of parents who smoke have a greater chance of becoming smokers themselves. According to most research, these young people are twice as likely to pick up smoking.
a 1994 study by Columbia University found that daughters of women who smoked at least half a pack a day during pregnancy were four times more likely to become smokers in their teen years, in comparison to daughters of nonsmoking mothers. The researchers found the possibility that nicotine in the expecting mother's bloodstream somehow "primed" the brain of the unborn baby girl to get attached to the substance later in life. Some didn't show the same willingness to pick up the habit. The authors of the study presented the theory that male body hormones, somehow interfered with the effect of nicotine on unborn baby boys.
A 1997 study by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh did find other effects on boys whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. The researchers were studying the backgrounds of boys being counseled for conduct disorder, a pattern of continued behavior that included lying, fighting, vandalism and fire-setting. The results of the study revealed that some with mothers who smoked at least half a pack a day during pregnancy were 30% more likely to have behavior problems later in life. Another six-year study from the University of Chicago on disruptive boys found that sons whose mothers smoked at least half a pack a day during pregnancy were portraying conduct problems five times beyond the general population by the time the boys were seven-years-old.
A Columbia study in 1999 revealed that teen girls were five times more likely to abuse drugs if their mothers smoked during pregnancy.
I would think that any Christian would agree that a woman using tobacco is very contrary to the Bible's description of a godly woman. "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." (Titus 2:3-5). "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." (Prov. 31:10). "She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life." (Prov 31:12). "Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." (Prov. 31:25,26).
Secondhand smoke also known as environmental tobacco smoke is smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe that escapes in the air.
The output from a cigarette is roughly one-half mainstream smoke and one-half sidestream smoke. Mainstream smoke is drawn into the lungs and breathed out again. Sidestream smoke comes from the tip of a lit cigarette.
The chemical properties of the kinds of smoke are similar but not identical. When air isn't drawn through a cigarette, the tip is much cooler and the cigarette doesn't burn as efficiently. This is known as incomplete combustion. The result is that sidestream smoke releases five times as much carbon monoxide and twice as much tar in the air to what enters a smoker's lungs. When chemists for R.J. Reynolds, a major tobacco company, investigated tobacco smoke, they found that its pollution was ten-thousand times more concentrated than auto exhausts on a highway during rush hour. Other chemists have discovered that the tar particles released in sidestream smoke, besides being more numerous, are only one-tenth the size of tar particles from mainstream smoke. Smaller size particles remain in the air longer, leaving a haze and the distinctive smell of smoke in a room for hours after a cigarette is finished.
There is still a bit of a debate as to whether or not secondhand smoke is a credible issue. More than two-thirds of nonsmokers believe secondhand smoke is hazardous and nearly half of all smokers believe it.
One of the first public reports about secondhand smoke was a 1972 study done by the surgeon general at the time. The report discussed "exposure to air pollution from tobacco smoke" and examined the dangers of smoking to the health of unborn children.
The report explained, "What the smoker does to himself may be his business, but what the smoker does to the nonsmoker is quite a different matter...this we see as the most dangerous development yet to the viability of the tobacco industry." This report started the motion of many towns banning smoking in public places and many businesses becoming "tobacco free."
In 1992, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) did a major report on the hazards of secondhand smoke. The EPA report concluded that secondhand smoke caused cancers that kill three-thousand people a year.
As we've already gone over the health risks of what a smoking mother does to her children, the data seems to show that children exposed to secondhand smoke are likely to face more serious health problems than adults. Young children's bodies are still developing and are more vulnerable to infirmities in the environment. There are at least forty dangerous chemicals in tobacco smoke. It isn't surprising that these chemicals can cause children lots of problems
Two reports that were done in 1986, one by the surgeon general and one by the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council, found that secondhand smoke had a negative effect on children. These findings were further confirmed by the aforementioned 1992 report by the EPA.
Children whose parents smoke not only have a higher rate of asthma but they have more attacks and attacks that are more severe. Children who breathe cigarette smoke consistently get bronchial infections, pneumonia, coughs, wheezing and ear infections.
As little as twenty minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke can make blood platelets "sticky", thickening the blood. This makes it harder for the heart to pump and raises the danger of blood clots, which can cause heart attack or stroke. The CDC reports that between 35,000 and 40,000 people in the U.S. die each year due to secondhand smoke. As we explained in the section about women's health and smoking, the genetic makeup of females appear to make them more susceptible to secondhand smoke then males.
Tobacco companies have tried to dismiss the issues of secondhand smoke, claiming that tobacco smoke is only an odor that might cause someone to cough. But lots of research has proven asthma, respiratory problems, cancers and heart attacks in nonsmokers designated in their exposure to cigarette smoke.
With all the anti-tobacco force lecturing about secondhand smoke and the damage tobacco does to the environment, it would be very unbecoming for a Christian to smoke in this time. "In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you." (Titus 2:7,8). "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:" (1 Pet. 2:21,22). "But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ." (1 Cor. 8:12). As I've already stated, there are many lost people who think tobacco is immoral. A Christian using tobacco can certainly hurt the name of Christ. And we just went over the deaths that secondhand smoke causes. Smokers are killing people with their smoke. "Thou shalt not kill." (Exodus 20:13).