Smoking: The Leading Cause of Death and Solutions to Help

"Why Is Smoking Bad For You?" Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 29 Mar. 2013. Web.

Thousands of people die every day from smoking-related causes, even though the American Heart Association states that smoking is currently the most preventable cause of death in the United States. Smokers even have an increased risk of developing miscellaneous autoimmune diseases. All of these harmful consequences are caused by the toxic chemicals within the smoke that is inhale... ... middle of paper ... ...ealth? American Heart Association, n.d. Web.

Tobacco smoke for example, dwells with 4,000 chemicals, and at least 250 known to be dangerous to health (Quitting Smoking). Puffing away on cigarettes abuses almost every organ in the body and provokes cancer of the lungs, esophagus, larynx, mouth, kidney, bladder, etc (Quitting Smoking). Even with knowing this information, people resume to smoking these cancer sticks. The result from smoking has caused approximately 443,000 deaths each year in the United States, and this number is increasing by the day (Smoking). Once a person starts smoking a cigarette or tobacco product, the urge of wanting to stop can be very challenging to do.

Lung cancer kills more than 20,000 people in the United States every year. (http://community.healthgate.com) The lung damage which causes emphysema is irreversible, and makes it extremely difficult to breath. But the worst thing is that, with any kind of lung disease, it could be fatal. Adults are not the only ones suffering from the illnesses due to smoking. Approximately 4 million children become ill from being exposed to secondhand smoke.

As of last year, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) found out that more than 16 million Americans suffer from smoking-related diseases (CDC, 2013). Cigarette use changes smokers physically, from skin, to teeth, to hair, even in ways that certainly add years to looks (Chang, 2011). According to WebMD, there are more than 40,000 chemicals that make up one cigarette and many of these substances trigger the destruction of healthy cells in the body (webmd, 2011). It is a well known fact that toxic substances that make up a cigarette cause respiratory diseases, cardiac ailments, and cancer. ... ... middle of paper ... ... Center for Disease Control.

Banning Cigarettes This year alone cigarettes will kill over 420,000 Americans, and many more will suffer from cancers, and circulatory and respiratory system diseases. These horrible illnesses were known to come from cigarettes for years. Recently the Food and Drug Administration declared nicotine, the main chemical in cigarettes, addictive. This explains why smokers continue to use cigarettes even though smokers are aware of the constantly warned about health dangers in cigarettes. Some researchers have also found out that smoking by pregnant women causes the deaths of over 5,000 babies and 115,000 miscarriages.

It can also cause heart disease and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). “Smoking is responsible for several diseases, such as cancer, long-term (chronic) respiratory diseases, and heart disease, as well as premature death. Over 440,000 people in the USA and 100,000 in the UK dies because of smoking each year.” (Nordqvist). In my opinion, that is too many people losing their life to something as awful as smoking. All of these deaths could be prev... ... middle of paper ... ...o they are just stuck suffering the consequences for the rest of their life.

Once the damage to the cilia and bronchi occur the lung can’t clean itself, because of this the toxic substances in the cigarette s remain contained in the lung. Due to this cancer continually develops. In addition to causing damage to the respiratory system, smoking also causes damage to the circulatory system, in organs such as the heart and the arteries. Heart attacks occur more often in smokers than in nonsmokers. According to The American Council on Science and Health smoking kills more than 400,000 Americans every year.

Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society. During 1995, approximately 2.1 million people in developed countries died as a result of smoking. One tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths in the United States. Lung Cancer mortality are about 23 times higher for current male smokers and 13 times higher for current female smokers compared to a lifelong never-smoker. In addition to being responsible for 87% of lung cancers, smoking is also associated with cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, uterine cervix, kidney, and bladder.

Isn't that illegal? Second-hand smoke can also cause a variety of seriously, deadly aliments. Every year more than 3,000 deaths from lung cancer and 35,000-62,000 deaths from heart attack and respiratory tract infections are caused from breathing in second-hand smoke (“Cigarette Smoking” 2). Second-hand smoke only takes ten minutes to begin damaging the heart. Ten minutes isn't a lot of time for the amount of damage second-hand smoke can cause.