The Effects of Smoking On Health

Authors Avatar

THE EFFECTS OF SMOKING ON HEALTH

        Smoking is the act of inhaling the fumes of burning substances. It used to be men who mainly smoked pipes and cigars which involve little inhalation. Now a days the amount of young women and children smoking is on the increase although the overall amount of people who smoke is declining in most countries.

There are thought to be around 4000 different chemical in a cigarette, many are toxic and 43 of them are carcinogens. The main substances in a cigarette are tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine. It is these three substances which cause the greatest threat to health causing damage to either the gaseous exchange or the cardiovascular system.  

Tar is dangerous because it settles on the lining of the airways in the lungs. In the 1950’s it was found to cause changes that can cause lung cancer and lung disease.

Lung disease causes the sufferer difficulty in breathing. This is caused by tiny particles settling in the depths of the lungs. These particles make the lungs more susceptible to air borne infections, such as pneumonia, influenza and allergic reactions. If these become very bad they can trigger asthma attacks and server coughing which causes damage to the alveoli. Continuous coughing causes scaring of the alveolar surface which reduces the surface area for diffusion.

Chronic bronchitis is also caused by tar in cigarettes. The tar stimulates the goblet cells to produce mucus. This mucus culminates in the bronchioles because the tar also stops the ciliated cells sweeping the mucus up the trachea to the mouth to be swallowed. The smaller bronchi are obstructed by the mucus and you develop a smoker’s cough to remove the excess mucus from the lungs. In time the ciliated epithelia are replaced by scar tissue and the muscle around the bronchioles become thicker. It is the narrowing of the bronchioles which cause the difficulty in breathing.  

Join now!

Due to the constant infection of the lungs caused by the tar in cigarettes emphysema can develop. This disease is caused by the constant infection of the lungs that causes phagocytes to leave the blood and line the airways. Phagocytes release a protein digesting enzyme called elastase, which destroys the elastin in the walls of the alveoli so that it can reach the surface to remove the bacteria. The elastin makes the alveoli recoil when we breathe out. If this becomes damaged i.e. less elastin in present, then it does not stretch and recoil as it should.  This causes air ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

Avatar

The layout of this essay makes it a little difficult to read. You can avoid this by making sure that you use spaces between paragraphs and by ensuring that your paragraphs link together so that you are not just jumping form point to point. However the candidate has used appropriate terms throughout their work and there are no grammatical or spelling errors.

The use of images can help you discuss topics that are difficult to visualise and they can help to demonstrate a point however the way in which the candidate has randomly included an image in the main body of the essay actually detracts from the information and makes the essay harder to follow. If you are going to include images in your essay then make sure that they are relevant and instead of placing between a paragraph, place them either after a paragraph or at the end of your essay. You also need to make sure that you provide any links to images you have taken from an online source. On another note the candidate could have improved the quality of their analysis had they taken the time to undergo independent research, they could have gone on to discuss scientific evidence that links smoking to heart disease and other health problems. When discussing causes for a particular disease it is important that you consider the available evidence, there are many factors that can lead to disease but the cause is often unclear. Taking the time to research your subject shows enthusiasm and dedication and the additional information that this allows you to discuss can make your essay more interesting. Finally, this essay comes to an abrupt end with no conclusion, you should always conclude an essay, this is important as it gives you the opportunity to leave the reader with a good impression of your work. When writing a conclusion you should summarise key points form your essay with reference to why these are important to your topic. You should also write some kind of personal response relating to your topic, for a science based piece of work this could simply be what you have learnt from writing your essay.

Overall the candidate has demonstrated a good understanding of this topic, their essay is reasonable well written and they have provided a suitable amount detail. The candidate has attempted to introduce this topic, though their introduction still has some room for improvement. When writing your introductory paragraph you should state exactly what you plan to discuss so that the premise of your essay is clear. You should also think about ways in which you can engage the reader such as including an interesting fact that is relevant to your topic. This makes it more likely that the reader will read through all of your essay.