According to the American Lung Association, smoking is the #1 preventable cause of death in our country. The preventability regarding the prevalent issue is sparking a lot of controversy and debate throughout our nation, instituting law changes and increased awareness. Over 393,000 people die each year from smoking and nearly 50,000 people die from secondhand smoke, which is indicative of how powerful tobacco is, which creates more than 4,000 chemicals when burned (American Lung Association). Smoking has unfortunately become a widespread problem especially among teenagers. Peer pressure has turned this highly addictive drug into not only a seclusive activity, but also a social engagement brought about by curiosity. In addition to cigarettes, products such as e-cigs and hookah have made it increasingly easier to experiment with nicotine, allowing the user to smoke in a non-combustible, smoke free environment. The public health sector is responsible for preventing disease, promoting health, and prolonging life for the millions of Americans who so desperately need support. Organized efforts have been made in attempt to alleviate the predicament, which sadly will still continue to kill years off American lives.
There’s no definitive answer to whether the situation will worsen or progress. However, it’s evident that inventions such as the e-cig and hookah have attempted to help people quit smoking. About 1/3 of smokers who use nicotine therapies such as drugs and patches end up relapsing. Critics say that the new popular devices are safe alternatives and could provide public health benefits if millions switched (Johnson). However, it appears that further evaluations are needed and new anti-smoking methods need to be brought about. The...
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...Disease Control and Prevention, 05 June 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
Johnson, Steven R. "Sparking Controversy - Modern Healthcare." Sparking Controversy - Modern Healthcare. Modern Healthcare, 21 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Kenny, Tim, Dr. "Patient.co.uk - Trusted Medical Information and Support." Patient.co.uk. Patient.co.uk, 16 May 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
Lung.org. American Lung Association, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .
"New Tobacco Atlas Estimates U.S. $35 Billion Tobacco Industry Profits and Almost 6 Million Annual Deaths." New Tobacco Atlas Estimates U.S. $35 Billion Tobacco Industry Profits and Almost 6 Million Annual Deaths. World Lung Foundation, 21 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
Levine, Carol. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Bioethical Issues. 7th ed. Guilford: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
...an be seen that they are a useful cessation technique- as stated previously 55% of people use e-cigarettes to quit. More research is needed into e-cigarettes to see if they are viable way to effectively stop smoking. There is a gap in research of long term effects of e-cigarettes due to e-cigarettes only being developed in 2004 4. Due to e-cigarettes only gaining popularity recently, few reliable studies with enough participants were able to be meta-analysed. It is also hard to give a reliable conclusion for this topic as there are different brands of e-cigarettes each containing varying concentrations of nicotine which wont change until they are regulated as medicinal products. At the moment the studies suggest that e-cigarettes are no better than other NRT’s. E-cigarettes could be a viable, useful and cost effective way to help reduce smoking- if they are regulated
Brown, Colette. "Proper Debate on Controversial Issue Is a Matter of Life and Death." Editorial.
Smoking tobacco in the cigarette form was extremely popular in the early part of the 20th century. Many people joined in the popular habit, got addicted, and had no fear of the future consequences or health concerns. Many people were under the impression that smoking was good for their bodies, and were unaware of the unhealthy side affects that cigarette smoking caused. Some famous people like Walt Disney, Ty Cobb, and Babe Ruth all were killed from their love of tobacco. Soon enough more and more cases of lung, throat, and mouth cancers began popping up all over the place, but people were reluctant to blame their beloved tobacco. It wasn’t until 1964 when Surgeon General Luther Terry stated that smoking causes lung cancer in people who smoke and inhale the fumes, that perceptions on smoking began to change. Since the findings of the Surgeon General, there has been an on going battle between pro-smoking, and anti-smoking groups over the rights of smokers. As the non smoking movement is growing at a rapid pace, and smoking bans have been ruled to not violate the 1st Amendment. In the last decade we have banned smoking in almost all public areas from bars and restaurants, offices, malls, and living quarters. The smoking bans are one effective way to abolish smoking, but it fails to address the major component in smoking; addiction to nicotine, and the psychological effect it has on users. Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy way to end smoking. This is because treatment plans have such a small level of success. Medical treatment such as prescription medication often have more side effects than positive effects for the user. But one product has been making huge gains in the fight to quit tobacco, and that is the electronic cigarette...
in only a few years time we will notice a drastic decline in the total
This essay is aimed to explore, analyse and discuss smoking in adults. Smoking is a public health issue as such is one of the major contributors to high mortality and ill-health in the adults which is preventable (Health and Excellence Care (NICE) (2012). The United Kingdom (UK) is known to have the highest number of people with a history of smoking among people with low socio-economic status (Scriven and Garman, 2006; Goddard and Green, 2005). Smoking is considered a serious epidemic in the UK and the National institute for Health and Excellence Care (NICE, 2012) stated that 28% of adults with low economic status are tobacco smokers compared with 13% of those with economic status or having professional incomes. Furthermore almost 80,000 people died in England in 2011 as a result of smoking related issues and 9,500 admissions of children died due to being second hand smokers (WHO, 2005). This essay focuses on definition of smoking, the aim is to underline the relationship between smoking and the determinants of health and then, the size, prevalence, and morbidity trend of smoking will be explored. Furthermore, some public health policies introduced to confront the issues around smoking will be investigated and finally, the roles of nurses will identify health needs the public so as to promote good health and their wellbeing.
Even though smoking cigarettes can lead to death and consider very bad for someone’s health, people all over the world do it every day. No matter how many cautions cigarette companies place on cigarettes packs, people still smoke. There have been a lot of debate about the consequences of smoking cigarettes, as well as many studies have been done, showing the awful results of smoking on people’s physical condition. Despite all the consequences that smoking cigarettes can create on one’s health, people cannot seem to be able to stay away from them. At every gas station, almost everywhere people go, many advertisements try to influence people to smoke and make smoking looks cool. However, the smoke from cigarettes has life threatening chemicals in them which trigger to severe effects on people’s healthiness. Smoking can damage nearly every organ of the body and also causes nearly one of every five deaths in the United States each year.
Smoking cigarettes is a detrimental practice not only to the smoker, but also to everyone around the smoker. According to an article from the American Lung Association, “Health Effects” (n.d.), “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing over 438,000 deaths per year”. The umbrella term for tobacco use includes the use of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chewing tobacco. While tobacco causes adverse health consequences, it also has been a unifying factor for change in public health. While the tobacco industries targets specific populations, public health specifically targets smokers, possible smokers, and the public to influence cessation, policies and education.
Smoking is a lifestyle, a habit, and a trend. Smoking has become a social activity among teens, connecting them through the craving of a smoke. Smoking is seen as seductive and cool in the media and movies which influences teenagers to smoke even more. The World Health Organization has stated that “Tobacco kills around 6 million people each year. More than 5 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.” As of April 2016, only 7% of teenagers in the U.S. smoke, but it is said that tobacco use will kill 8 million people annually by 2030. 99% of adult smokers start in their years as teenagers. Smoking is an epidemic that has taken control of people’s lives since 1881 and the media since the early 1900s. Smoking currently kills about 440,000 people a year in the U.S. I feel that it is an issue because it is the #1 most preventable way to die, but people still continue to smoke because of how it looks and how they are perceived as a person if they do. The fact that people become addicted to a trend that will attribute to their death for the sake of being thought of as cooler, is a problem that needs to be addressed.
Every year cigarette smoking is responsible for 500,000 premature deaths (Nugel), you do not want to be just another statistic, do you? America’s first cash crop was tobacco. That means that tobacco has been around for a really long time. It was not until 1865, though, that cigarettes were sold commercially. They were sold to soldiers at the end of the Civil War (Dowshen). From then, cigarettes spread like wildfire, and it was not until 1964 that anyone made a stand about the negative effects of tobacco and cigarettes. People start smoking for all different reasons, some to fit in and some to “escape”. Regardless, it is a horrible habit. 3900 children will try their first cigarette today. Amongst adults who currently smoke, 68% of them began at age 18 or younger, and 85% at 21 or younger (American Lung Association). And of all those people, 70% say if they were given another chance they would never have picked up that first cigarette (Tobacco Free Maine). Smoking is responsible for 1 and 5 deaths in the united states, and is the number one preventable cause of death (NLH). Smoking burns and there is no doubt about that, but before one picks up that cigarette, understand the negative effects on not only oneself, but others affected by ones poor choices, like second-hand smoke. Because of smoking cigarettes, many types of cancer, decrease of life quality, and negative health effects have become all too common in the world today.
From my late teens, into my mid-twenties, I was a smoker. At first, it was just recreational; however that changed fairly quickly. I began buying them and smoking regularly throughout the day. It then progressed to smoking a pack per day until it was too late. I was officially addicted. I knew it was a terrible habit and I was shamed of it and would hide it from friends and family hoping they wouldn’t find out. Finally, after coughing hacking, and repeatedly getting sick several times a year, I came to the realization that I had to quit. However, it wasn’t as easy as I had anticipated. After relapsing several times before I was finally able to quit, I broke this terrible habit successfully. It was an extremely difficult habit to break and I’ll never go back. I was a lucky individual who had the mental toughness and willpower to overcome this strong addiction, but Americans struggle to quit each year, and many never do. However, there’s a new product on the market today called electronic cigarettes that are believed to aid individuals in the fight against addiction. It’s a battery powered device that heats a nicotine diluted solution into a vapor that is then inhaled. It’s believed to be a healthier, more affordable alternative to tobacco cigarettes. It is much safer because it doesn’t have nearly as many harmful chemicals as tobacco cigarettes and it’s believed to be much more affordable for consumers. However, many critics believe that electronic cigarettes are extremely addictive and just as harmful. Although electronic cigarettes are believed to be detrimental to people’s heath due to low quality product standards, harmful components in filling solution, and reports suggesting they’re addictive and just as harmful as toba...
Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues (2013, November 1). Standardized Tests - ProCon.org. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://standardizedtests.procon.org/#background.
In recent years, smoking has started to take over the lives of many teenagers. The number of teenagers smoking has increased dramatically in the last several years. This is a major problem because smoking can lead to sickness and major diseases that can lead to death. Teens tend to participate in this while out of the presence of an adult figure. Although teens should not be smoking in the first place, an adult figure should be around to help insure that their children are doing the right things, even when they are behind sealed doors with their peers. Teenagers as they mature become a model for younger children and when they set the example of smoking can ruin their respectable image to the children that look up to them.
One of the biggest problems that people are faced with on a day-to-day basis is cigarette smoke. The sole cause for 480,000 deaths each year just in the United States is accredit to cigarettes(CDC). For a lot of the smokers the habit of smoking happens to assist them when under stress and dealing with issues that are unmanageable. Some smoke to appeal to their peers or simply because it “feels good.” Smoking one cigarette can lead to a major addiction. The effects of smoking hurt oneself and those amongst us. Smoking Kills as the ad portrays this revolver and cigarettes as the bullets, and also lists the side effects of smoking. Cigarettes causes cancer, increases the risk of you getting a stroke, highly addictive and causes a lot of health problems. Nearly 16
Scientists and health officials have been arguing the detrimental effects smoking has on our health for many years. Smoking can lead to serious complications including asthma, pancreas, lung and stomach cancer due to the large number of carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals) and other various substances added to it. It is a health hazard for both smokers and non-smokers and it is especially harmful to unborn babies. Although smokers claim that it helps them to relax and release stress, the negative aspects of the habit take over the positive. As it has been stressed by the scientists and experts, there are some very severe reasons of smoking but its crucial consequences should also be taken into consideration.