TRUE FACTS ABOUT TOBACCO

AND WHY YOU WANT TO QUIT NOW

SMOKING IS ADDICTIVE

Most people know that Tobacco is an addicting substance, and that it contains Nicotine which is a drug, but did you know that tobacco causes more illnesses and deaths than all other dependency drugs, including alcohol, heroin, marijuana and cocaine?

                                                                        -U.S. Public Health Service

TOBACCO SMOKE IS POISONOUS

Tobacco smoke is made up of more than 2000 poisons including the following:

TAR

Tar is the oily matter left after tobacco smoke has gone through a filter.  It contains more than 40 cancer-causing poisons.  It sticks to lung tissue and blocks breathing.

CARBON MONOXIDE

This gas is colorless,  odorless,  and very dangerous.  It reduces the oxygen level in the blood.  It also lessens night vision and hearing.  Carbon monoxide is the same deadly gas that is present in auto exhaust.

NICOTINE

Nicotine in tobacco is a very addictive drug.  It harms the brain and nervous system,  increasing blood pressure and heart rate.  It also raises the blood’s fatty acid levels,  contributing to hardening of the arteries.  One cigar has enough nicotine – if inhaled all at once – to kill two people.  Gardeners use nicotine to kill insects.

WITHIN THREE SECONDS OF YOUR FIRST PUFF:

SMOKING CAN KILL YOU

If you think smoking is a cool thing to do, think again: Smoking kills! It begins with the first cigarette, and takes you slowly down the path to disease and death. Here’s how:

AT FIRST YOU EXPERIENCE

•  Bad smell on hands, hair and clothes
  Coughing
  Decreased energy
  Foul breath
  Frequent Illness
  Headaches
  Shortness of breath
  Sour taste in the mouth
  Stained teeth and nails
   

      AND LATER WILL COME

• Arteriosclerosis
  Birth defects
  Bronchitis
  Congestive Heart Failure
  Emphysema
  Heart Attacks
  Infertility
  Strokes
  Tooth Cavities
  Ulcers
  Wrinkles

      CANCERS:

VOICE BOX CANCER

This cancer looks like a warty growth. It begins with hoarse-ness in your voice and ends with surgical removal of your entire voice box.

LUNG CANCER

Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. The smoke’s tars stick to the inside of your lungs, turning them black. The cancer appears as a grayish-white mass on the outside of your lungs. As it grows, it slowly blocks your air passages, causing great pain. Lung cancer causes you to cough, spit up blood, and have repeated cases of pneumonia or bronchitis. Signs of lung cancer often don’t appear until its advanced stages. By this time it may have spread to your brain, breasts, heart, liver bones.

MOUTH CANCER

Because nicotine is absorbed through the mouth, oral cancer affects the lips, tongue, gums, cheeks and throat. You may develop a sore that bleeds and won’t heal, a lump, swelling, a red or white patch of tissue, trouble with chewing or swallowing, or difficulty in moving your tongue or jaws. Treatment includes radiation therapy and surgical removal of the affected area. If your jaw is affected, a section of your jaw may have to be cut out.

KIDNEY CANCER

Tobacco smoke’s ingredients break down and leave the body through your urine. This means that concentrated cancer-causing agents pass through your kidneys. Blood may start to appear in your urine. Surgical removal of a tumor or the loss of a kidney can result.

UTERINE CANCER

This slow-growing cancer is most commonly found in women aged 55-60. Smoking greatly increases your risk. Uterine cancer can spread into other areas, like your ovaries, through the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Warning signs of uterine and ovarian cancer usually don’t appear until the cancer is advanced. Treatment of these cancers includes laser surgery to burn off the cancer cells, radiation therapy, hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus and sometimes ovaries) and chemotherapy.

BLADDER CANCER

This cancer is much more common among smokers than nonsmokers. In fact, smoking is the top risk factor for this kind of cancer. Bladder cancer develops because poisons from smoke build up in urine, which is collected in the bladder.

BRONCHITIS

Bronchitis is when your breathing tubes are congested and swollen. It reduces the amount of air you can breathe in and out. As a result, you are always short of breath. Bronchitis gives you a smoker’s cough, which does not go away unless you quit smoking. Bronchitis also makes you spit up phlegm and mucus, and lowers your resistance to other diseases-including emphysema and pneumonia.

CIRCULATORY PROBLEMS

The blood flow to your limbs slows, and may stop. Without blood supply, your hands, feet, toes or limbs will have to be surgically removed. Smoking also increases your risk of stroke.

EMPHYSEMA

Smoke tar coats the lung’s air sacs. The sacs lose their flexibility, and are easily damaged or destroyed. With emphysema, you cannot catch your breath, and may feel as if you are suffocating.

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE

As a result of heart disease caused by smoking, the heart is not able to pump efficiently and becomes clogged with its own blood.