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What is tobacco?
Tobacco comes from the leaves of the tobacco plant. It can be rolled or shredded for cigars or cigarettes, or ground into a chewable form. Nicotine in tobacco is one of the most addictive substances known. About eight out of every ten people who try smoking get addicted. Tobacco also contains over 4000 other chemicals.
What does smoking do?
Smoking a cigarette can give you a "rush" at the time you're smoking. Socially, smoking may make you seem cool to some friends, and may make you feel like you fit in better.
But smoking also causes your breath, hair, and clothes to smell. Smoking regularly can make your teeth yellow, and more susceptible to decay. Smokers usually experience shortness of breath, which is why most young people who are active in sports don't smoke. Plus, nicotine is so addictive that even your first cigarette may put you on the road to addiction.
There's a myth that smoking can help you lose weight. But studies show that youth smokers don't lose any more weight than non-smokers. Not to mention that losing weight by eating well and being active doesn't come with a side effect like cancer.
What else does it do?
Approximately 37, 000 Canadians die each year from tobacco use, including at least 800 non-smokers who die from exposure to second-hand smoke. It kills 3,000 Torontonians every year. Tobacco use causes lung cancer as well as cancers of the mouth, throat, pancreas, bladder, kidney and cervix. Then there's also the threat of respiratory and heart disease.
Besides nicotine, cigarette smoke contains tar and gases like carbon monoxide. The tar contains cancer-promoting agents, which can irritate your lungs, causing bronchial disease and emphysema. The carbon monoxide interferes with the exchange of oxygen in the blood, and increases the chance of cardiovascular disease.
What about second-hand smoke?
Second-hand smoke is a combination of poisonous gases, liquids and breathable particles that are harmful to your health.
A non-smoker breathing second-hand smoke can be exposed to over 4,000 different chemicals, 50 of which are associated with or known to cause cancer.
Second-hand smoke has twice as much nicotine and tar as the smoke that smokers inhale. It also has five times the carbon monoxide which decreases the amount of oxygen in your blood.
Exposure to second-hand smoke, for as little as eight to 20 minutes, can cause physical reactions linked to heart and stroke disease - the heart rate increases, oxygen supply decreases, and blood vessels constrict which increases blood pressure and makes the heart work harder.
Smoke does a lot of damage - and not just to smokers. Anyone who's near a lit cigarette, pipe or cigar is probably breathing second-hand smoke. Two-thirds of the smoke from a burning cigarette is not inhaled by the smoker but enters the surrounding environment. The polluted air is inhaled by anyone that happens to be in that area.
Prolonged and repeated exposure to second-hand smoke means that you, your family and friends are more likely to develop: lung cancer, heart disease, asthma, reduced lung function, bronchitis, middle ear infections, pneumonia, or sore throats.
How do I reduce the risks?
If you're offered a cigarette, consider how addictive nicotine is, even the first time you smoke, and how hard it is to quit smoking.
If you already smoke, one way to begin reducing the risks to your health is by cutting down the number of cigarettes you smoke. It can be the first step to quitting.
Last updated March 2010
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