In my family, I watched my grandfather destroy his life due to smoking, and I have also heard stories about how his grandfather lived to be 70 years old while smoking 4 packs a day. When I heard this, I was shocked because I was informed as a young boy that cigarettes were labeled as “Death Sticks”. Even though my grandfather was aware of the harmful threats cigarettes could have on his body, he still inhaled the potent fumes. Processing this live information has led me to research the health risks that are involved with smoking. According to Adam Waxler from Health Guidance - “Obviously, smoking cigarettes is dangerous to your health. According to various studies on the effects of cigarette smoking, it is responsible for one out of every five deaths in the U.S. and is the most addictive and destructive over-the-counter drug known to man.”
You do not have to be a consistent smoker like my grandfather as stated above. The main question that was asked to me by my relative while doing my research was, “What if I were to smoke every once in a while-could the risks still effect me?” The answer is yes. “Even a few cigarettes can increase your blood pressure, and put you at a slightly increased risk of heart disease and stroke,” says Dr.Gupta from the CNN News Health section. The World Health Organization estimates, “that tobacco caused 100 million deaths over the course of the 20th century.” Cigarettes are bad for your body and could cause millions of problems in the future and present to die.
Cancer is on the rise in the year of 2011. Many people believe that cigarettes are the main cause for this horrible disease. The question that is frequently asked, “Are cigarettes the leading cause for cancer?” Cigarettes are the attributes cause for Cancer, but my grandfather never got it. While my grandfather did not get cancer, I noticed that many more people did not have the same luck. “There are about 200 different types of cancer” Cancer Research. For example, tobacco smoke that you breathe in may help to cause lung cancer. Over exposing your skin to the sun could cause a melanoma on your leg; however, the sun would not give you lung cancer and smoking will not give you melanoma. Cancer research in the UK says, “A carcinogen is something that can help to cause cancer. Tobacco smoke is a powerful carcinogen. But not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer.” So yes, cigarettes are attributes for cancer, but are not the main cause for cancer.
I have plenty of questions that I needed to be answered. One in particular, “Why do people smoke?” People smoke to relive stress or depression. It gives them a sense of control. The cigarettes helps calm the mind to make a reality that does not involve the problems of the present. In my survey one of my respondents explained: "It is not the taste that counts. It's that sense of satisfaction you get from a cigarette that you can't get from anything else." There are clearly numerous amounts of reasons to why people smoke but the most common it to deal with stress. Given that my grandfather was not granted the perfect childhood stress has become battle for him. Smoking gives him the relief he needs for just one moment, and in that moment his childhood never really exists to him.
What causes the addiction link found by smoking cigarettes, Nicotine. Nicotine generates similar pleasure to that produced by cocaine and heroin hence the addiction. As deadly as it sounds many Americans know of the addiction that follows while smoking, yet they still do it. According to the American Heart Association, “the nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break." Think of nicotine as candy, you know it is bad for yet you consume it. The reason for this is an instant shot of pleasure, pleasure that could only be obtained by eating candy, and before you know it you are overweight. The pleasure that you encountered while engorging candy has made you blind to see reality. Not facing his past and covering it up with a smoke filled vision did not make my grandfathers pains go away. It was then he realized that this destructive habit he has picked up was making his pain worst. I know he knows what 7 packs of cigarettes can do to him, but once you start its hard to turn back.
Many Americans today are involved with smoking cigarettes, and to be honest many more will also. The risk factors of doing so are getting higher and higher. Even though the cause of inhaling this “Death Stick” is broad casted everywhere, it is useless given to the mass production of it. According to the Health Guidance,” For some reason, educating smokers about the effects of smoking cigarettes does not seem to strike any sense into them. For some smokers, thinking that smoking is directly related to lung cancer and eventually death is a myth yet to be proven. But whatever the reason smokers have, the facts speak for themselves. Making smoking cigarettes a habit that will, sooner or later, lead to death.” It is this same theory that led my grandfather to have a lung and heart transplant, luckily he lived and is currently a nonsmoker.
The reason I choose this topic was to show how serious smoking could be. Many people are aware of the effects of this potent fume but yet still inhale it. Smoking cigarettes is a habit that will lead to death. There are many reasons to why individuals smoke; some influenced by others, commercials, and emotional break downs. Before you decide to pick up a habit that could end your life remember you only live once.
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