Smoking.Main Facts: Currently, just over a quarter of the UKs population, about 15 million people smoke cigarettes.
SMOKING
March 2003
Hannah Voice
Main Facts:
* Currently, just over a quarter of the UK's population, about 15 million people smoke cigarettes.
* The majority of smokers are people between the ages of 20 and 34.
* More that 80% of smokers take up the habit as teenagers.
* In the UK, about 450 children start smoking every day.
* Approximately one fifth of Britain's 15 year olds are regular smokers, despite the fact that it is illegal to smoke under the age of 16.
* Surveys show, that 70% of smokers, would like to give up their habit.
* Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of cancer worldwide.
* Every year, around 120,000 smokers in the UK die, as a result of smoking.
* Smoking kills around six times more people in the UK per year, than road traffic accidents (3,391), other accidents (8,933), poisoning and overdoses (3,157), murder and manslaughter (495), suicide (4,485), and HIV infection (180).
* About half, of all regular cigarette smokers, will eventually be killed by their habit.
* Smoking causes about 30% of all cancer deaths (including around 90% of lung cancer deaths), 17% of all heart disease deaths, and at least 80% of deaths from bronchitis and emphysema.
* It is estimated, that several hundred cases of lung cancer, and several thousand cases of heart disease in non-smokers in the UK, are caused by passive smoking (breathing other people's tobacco smoke).
* On average, in the UK, 92 people die from lung cancer every day - one every 15 minutes.
* Since the mid 1980's, it has been more likely for girl's to smoke regularly than boys.
* Parents and siblings influence children. They are far more likely to smoke, if other people at home do.
* Research has shown, that advertising tobacco influenced young people to start smoking. However, in November 2002, a law to ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship was enacted.
* During the period of September 2001, and August 2002, tobacco companies spent £25million, on advertising, excluding sponsorship and indirect advertising.
* The Government currently spends around £17million, on anti-smoking education campaigns. A further £2million is spent on measures to help people stop smoking.
* It has been shown, that manual workers, are more than twice as likely, to smoke, to non-manual workers. The Government's Cancer Plan aims to reduce the 'manual classes' smoking rate, from 36%, to 26%, by 2010.
Lung Cancer Rates In The UK:
As shown in the graph above, the amount of men who are dieing in the UK from lung cancer is rapidly decreasing, which is very good. However, the death rate of women was slowly increasing, until the 1990's, when the rate reached a point at which it was constant. The death ...
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* It has been shown, that manual workers, are more than twice as likely, to smoke, to non-manual workers. The Government's Cancer Plan aims to reduce the 'manual classes' smoking rate, from 36%, to 26%, by 2010.
Lung Cancer Rates In The UK:
As shown in the graph above, the amount of men who are dieing in the UK from lung cancer is rapidly decreasing, which is very good. However, the death rate of women was slowly increasing, until the 1990's, when the rate reached a point at which it was constant. The death rate of men however, is still much higher, than that of women.
The Risks
Tobacco has no safe level of use. Overall, one in two smoker (smoking 20 a day from age 18) will die from their habit - half of them in their middle ages.
Risk, is directly related to the number of cigarettes smoked - the higher the consumption, the greater the risk.
Risk, is even more dependant on duration of smoking, than on consumption. For example, smoking one packet of cigarettes a day for forty years is eight times more dangerous, than smoking two packets a day, for twenty years.
Ceasing to smoke reduces risk. Smokers, who stop before the age of 35, have a life expectancy not significantly different from non-smokers while in middle age, before the onset of cancer or some other serious disease, avoids most of the later excess risk from tobacco.
Smoking Children:
Each day, 450 children in the UK take up smoking. Most adult smokers have acquired the habit, by the time they are 19, so preventing children is vital. Very dew 11year olds smoke, but by the age of 15, around 1 in 4 children are regular smokers in the UK, despite the fact that smoking under the age of 16 is illegal. At 15 years of age, 21% of boys and 26% of girls, are regular smokers. Since the mid 1980's, girls have been more likely to smoke regularly than boys. Children are far more likely to smoke, is other people at home smoke. Siblings smoking appears to have even more influence than a parent smoking. Research has also shown, that tobacco advertising influences young people to start smoking. The graph on the right shows the smoking behaviour by age, for pupils aged 11-15, in England - 2000.
Smoking Worldwide:
There are 1.1 billion smokers in the world. There will be 1billion tobacco deaths worldwide in the 21st century, if current global smoking patterns continue. By the year 2030, the worldwide number of tobacco-related deaths each year, will increase from 4, to 10million. 80% of them will occur in developing countries.
The UK and the USA, have among the highest rates of lung cancer in women in the world, currently. However, both countries have the fasted falling rates of lung cancer in men.
Of the EU countries, Greece has the highest rate of smoking men (46%), and Sweden has the lowest (22%). Among women, Ireland has the highest rate of smoking (31%), and Portugal has the lowest (7%). Worldwide, the vast majority of smokers are in Asia (54.5%).
Below, is a pie chart, showing the percentage of smokers worldwide (by region).
What Is In A Cigarette:
There are more than 400 different compounds in a tobacco smoke; many of these are toxic, cause cancer, or damage cells. The three main compounds are:
* Nicotine: a powerful, fast-acting, addictive drug, that causes the 'hit' when drawing on a cigarette. Most of the 15million smokers in the UK, are addicted to nicotine, and crave cigarettes to feed their habit.
* Carbon Monoxide: a tasteless, odourless, poisonous gas. It is quickly and easily taken up in the bloodstream once a cigarette is lit. When a carbon monoxide molecule mixes with a haemoglobin, that is one less haemoglobin molecule that cannot carry oxygen: Carbon Monoxide+Haemoglobin=Carboxyhaemoglobin
* Tar: a matter composed of a variety of chemicals, many of which are known to cause cancer in animals.
Some of the thousands of harmful chemicals that have been identified in tobacco smoke are:
* Acetone: a solvent used in nail varnish remover.
* Ammonia: found in dry cleaning fluids.
* Arsenic: a poison used in insecticides.
* Benzene: a known cancer-causing agent, used in fuel and chemical manufacture.
* Cadmium: a highly poisonous metal, known to cause liver, kidney, and brain damage in humans.
* Formaldehyde: a highly poisonous liquid, used to preserve dead bodies.
Pregnant Women Smoking:
Pregnant women are always advised not to smoke. The chemicals that are in cigarette smoke, enter the mother's bloodstream very quickly, and reach the developing baby across the placenta. Babies born the mother's, who smoke, are generally lighter, than babies born to mothers who do not smoke, and there is an increased risk of premature birth. It seems that chemicals in cigarette smoke, prevent the baby from getting all the nourishment that he or she needs from the mother. Smoking has been associated with a number of pregnancy complications. Smoking early in pregnancy appears to increase a woman's risk of having an ectopic pregnancy. In an ectopic pregnancy, the embryo becomes implanted in a fallopian tube or other abnormal site instead of the uterus. With the rarest of exceptions, these pregnancies do not result in the birth of a baby, and must be removed surgically or with drug treatment to protect a woman's life. Smoking also may increase a woman's risk of miscarriage.
Main Diseases Explained:
Heart Disease:
Many factors influence a person's chances of developing heart disease. The risk factors beyond the own person's control, include, family history, gender and age. However, individuals are able to change the risk factors of high blood pressure, higher cholesterol levels, lazy lifestyles, fatty diets, and obesity, as well as smoking. Compared to non-smokers, smokers have a 70% greater death rate from heart disease, and they are also four times more likely to develop symptoms of heart disease. Every year that passes, the chance of heart disease for smokers who have quit, is reduced.
Lung Cancer:
Smoking is the major cause of lung cancer. Risk for lung cancer increases with the amount of cigarettes smoked. One pack a day, and smokers may have a seven to ten times greater risk, while two pack a day smokers may have a fifteen to twenty-five times greater risk. Less than 10% of lung cancers occur among non-smokers, and new studies, indicate that many of these people, were exposed to significant amounts of second-hand or side stream smoke. Cancers of the lip, tongue, salivary glands and oesophagus are five times more common in smokers. Kidney, bladder, pancreatic and larynx cancers are also more likely among those who smoke.
Emphysema:
Emphysema is known as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] or chronic obstructive lung disease [COLD]. Over time (sometimes only a few years), chemicals from smoking cause the tiny air sacs, alveoli, to weaken, and sometimes break. The result is prominent breathing difficulties, particularly the ability to exhale. People with emphysema often are unable to blow out a single match. Emphysema usually comes before chronic bronchitis (another COPD). Quitting smoking will greatly slow down the rate of decline. However, damaged lung tissue is unable to repair itself. Both lung cancer and emphysema result in the lungs losing their spongy, elastic properties, which enable them to function efficiently.
The picture above shows the adverse affects of smoking.
The picture above shows a damaged lung. If more people saw pictures such as this one, then maybe they wouldn't be so keen to take up this habit in the first place.
But.............
When you smoke a cigarette the nicotine hits your brain and makes you feel good, and the desire to repeat that feeling is what gets people addicted. However, some scientists think that they can create an injection that will help your body kill all the nicotine cells before they reach the brain, which should stop people getting addicted.
Common Brands:
In the UK, a packet of 20 cigarettes averagely costs £3.36. Below, is a list of a few of the well-known brands:
Marlboro
Merit
Multifilter
L&M
State Express
Benson & Hedges
West
Hollywood
Rothmans
Dunhill International
Salem
Winston
Camel
Yves
Mild Seven
Superkings
Regel
Kool
Lucky Strike