What are the effects of addiction to cigarettes and cigars?

History of Use

Smoking tobacco was introduced in Europe in the sixteenth century and in the United States in the seventeenth century. Matches and cigarettes were first commercially produced in the nineteenth century, facilitating the habit of smoking. By 1901, 80 percent of American men smoked at least one cigar a day; that same year, 6 million cigars and 3.5 million cigarettes were sold in the United States.

In 1913, the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company introduced Camel cigarettes, and ten years later, Camels were smoked by 45 percent of American smokers. By 1940, the number of cigarette smokers had doubled from that of 1930. Tobacco company advertising and marketing in the twentieth century especially targeted military personnel and women.

In 1950, the first evidence linking lung cancer and tobacco smoking was published in a British medical journal. In 1965, a US federal law mandated that a warning from the US surgeon general be placed on all packages of cigarettes and all cigarette advertising, stating the risks of smoking tobacco. In 1971, cigarette advertising was banned from television. In 1972, Marlboro became the best-selling brand of cigarettes in the world, and it remains the best-selling brand. In 1988, the US surgeon general determined that nicotine was an addictive substance. Nine years later, a US federal judge ruled that the US Food and Drug Administration
can regulate tobacco as a drug.

Worldwide, nearly 5.4 million people die annually from tobacco-related illnesses, including heart disease, stroke, and cancer. For every person who dies of a smoking-related disease, twenty people are living with a serious smoking-related disease. Men who do not smoke live 13.2 years longer than men who do smoke, and women who do not smoke live 14.5 years longer than women who do smoke.

Effects and Potential Risks

The smoking of tobacco leads to nicotine addiction. Repeated introduction of nicotine into the body causes increased production of dopamine in the pleasure centers of the brain. As the dopamine level drops, the smoker feels depressed and lights the next cigarette or cigar to regain the heightened sense of pleasure and well-being.

Nicotine also stains the teeth and fingers yellow, sours the breath, diminishes the senses of smell and taste, and reduces one’s appetite. People who smoke experience hair loss and wrinkle formation at a younger age. Women who smoke have an increased risk of miscarriage, premature labor, and giving birth to an underweight baby.

Along with nicotine, tobacco smoke contains carbon monoxide, which reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen to cells. To ensure that adequate oxygen reaches vital organs, the body reduces the blood flow to the extremities. Smoking stresses the heart and thereby increases the risks of heart disease and stroke.

The toxicity of tobacco smoke damages the lips, tongue, gums, throat, larynx, esophagus, and lungs. This progressive damage leads to chronic bronchitis and emphysema and an increased likelihood of death from cancer of the mouth, lungs, kidneys, bladder, pancreas, and stomach.

Nonsmokers who breathe environmental, or secondhand, cigarette and cigar smoke are also exposed to the toxins and carcinogens contained in that smoke. Nonsmokers are thus exposed to the same health risks as smokers.

In the 2010s, e-cigarettes, which provide users with nicotine in the form of a vaporized liquid without the tobacco smoke, have become popular as a less dangerous alternative to smoking. However, studies have suggested that use of e-cigarettes is still associated with respiratory problems, and nicotine itself has been linked to cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and reproductive disorders, and may be a carcinogen.

Bibliography

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Carr, Allen. The Easy Way to Stop Smoking: Join the Millions Who Have Become Non-Smokers Using Allen Carr’s Easy Way Method. New York: Sterling, 2010. Print.

De Lange, Catherine. “Smoke Without Fire.” New Scientist 1 Nov. 2014: 35–39. Print.

Lester, Robin A. J., ed. Nicotinic Receptors. New York: Humana, 2014. Print.

Mishra, Aseem, et al. "Harmful Effects of Nicotine." Indian Journal of Medical and Paediatric Oncology 36.1 (2015): 24–31. Print.

Rose, Jed Eugene, et al. “Personalized Smoking Cessation: Interactions between Nicotine Dose, Dependence, and Quit-Success Genotype Score.” Molecular Medicine 16 (2010): 247–53. Print.