Nicotine - Consequences

Consequences

Nicotine erodes health slowly at first. Most people begin smoking early in life, when they are enjoying the best health they will ever have. Gradually, however, the consequences of long-term tobacco use become evident. People suffer from bad breath, discolored teeth, cravings, and dryness and thinning of the skin. They may develop a "smoker's cough" or a gravelly voice from damage to the larynx, the organ that produces sound in the throat. They may develop lesions—sores that do not heal or that heal very slowly—on their lips or inside the mouth. All of these are early warning signs of trouble to come.

Kreteks and Bidis

Kreteks are clove-spiced cigarettes from Indonesia. Bidis are small, flavored cigarettes from India. Both are available on the American market, and both contain high concentrations of nicotine—higher, even, than American cigarettes. These items are tobacco products, and they are habit-forming.

Increased Risk of Cancer and Other Illnesses

It is estimated that one-third of all cancers and 87 percent of lung cancer in the United States can be traced directly to tobacco use. Cancer

An anti-smoking billboard shows a sickly character named Joe Chemo in his hospital bed suffering from cancer due to years of smoking. The character is a takeoff of the famous Joe Camel, who was once featured on packs of Camel cigarettes. AP/Wid
An anti-smoking billboard shows a sickly character named "Joe Chemo" in his hospital bed suffering from cancer due to years of smoking. The character is a takeoff of the famous "Joe Camel," who was once featured on packs of Camel cigarettes. AP/Wide World Photos.

is an illness in which cells grow and reproduce too quickly, causing tumors inside the body. The tumors can be small at first and then grow rapidly. If the cancer reaches the lymph glands that send hormones throughout the body, the cancer can spread through the body as well. Cancer treatment generally involves surgery to remove tumors. Surgery is often followed by chemotherapy, a process that shrinks tumors but also causes nausea, weakness, hair loss, and malfunction of the immune system. Some tumors are treated with radiation to stem their growth. Radiation can cause pain and burning of the skin.

Cancer is treatable, but smokers are twice as likely to die of it as nonsmokers diagnosed with the same illness. Heavy smokers are four times more likely to die of their cancers as nonsmokers diagnosed with similar cancers.

Test your knowledge: How much do you know about Nicotine? SOURCE: Adapted from Quiz: Nicotine, in The Science Behind Drug Abuse: NIDA for Teens, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Huma
Test your knowledge: How much do you know about Nicotine?
SOURCE: Adapted from "Quiz: Nicotine," in The Science Behind Drug Abuse: NIDA for Teens, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MA [Online] http://teens.drugabuse.gov/parents/documents/nicotine_quiz.doc [accessed May 24, 2005]
.

Long-term tobacco use is directly linked to heart attack, various lung illnesses, high blood pressure, and stomach ulcers. It also reduces the body's ability to heal broken bones, promotes arthritis, and causes bad breath and yellowing of the teeth. All of these effects stem from a product that is legal for use in the American adult population. However, the U.S. Surgeon General's warning about the various health consequences of smoking appears on all packs of cigarettes sold in the United States.