Tobacco is a central nervous system stimulant drug. One of its components, nicotine, has an enormous addictive capacity, and is the reason why its consumption produces dependence.
During the combustion of tobacco, more than 4,000 different toxic products are produced. Among them, the following stand out for their special danger and the diseases with which they can be associated:
-Tar : responsible for different types of cancer.
-Carbon monoxide : promotes cardiovascular diseases.
-Irritants (phenols, ammonia, hydrocyanic acid) : responsible for respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema.
-Nicotine : causes tobacco dependence. It has an approximate half-life of two hours, but as its concentration in the blood decreases, the desire to smoke increases.
Smoking a cigarette means exposing yourself to numerous substances that are harmful to your health and the risk of developing a dependency.
Carbon monoxide is found in tobacco smoke, and passes into the blood through the lungs. It is responsible for damage to the vascular system on the one hand, and for the decrease in oxygen transport to the tissues of our body, on the other. It produces fatigue, cough and expectoration.
Nicotine acts on the areas of the brain that regulate pleasurable sensations, causing the appearance of dependence. It also acts on the cardiovascular system, increasing heart rate and the possibility of arrhythmias. In addition, it produces changes in blood viscosity and increases triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
Unlike the attractive image it sometimes has, tobacco produces some undesirable changes shortly after starting to be consumed, including:
-Premature wrinkles in the upper lip area, around the eyes (crow’s feet), chin and cheeks, and grayish coloration of the skin that constitutes the so-called “smoker’s face”.
-Teeth stains, infections and dental cavities.
-Bad breath and bad body odor due to the smell of tobacco.
-Yellowish spots on nails and fingers.
Young people who start smoking do not usually attach importance to the effects that tobacco will have on their long-term health, but there are other effects, closer in time, that have been demonstrated in the youth population and that can be verified without the need for There is chronicity in tobacco consumption.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco is the leading preventable cause of illness, disability and premature death in the world. In Europe, smoking causes 1.2 million deaths every year. It is directly related to the appearance of 29 diseases (of which 10 are different types of cancer) and is the main cause of many deaths from lung cancer and more than 50% of cardiovascular diseases.