Many experts refer to tobacco as being the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., meaning that it causes deaths that could be avoided if people no longer practiced this habit.
Experts also estimate that in the 40 years between 1964 and 2004, smoking caused an estimated 12 million deaths in the U.S. On average, a smoker dies 14 years sooner than a nonsmoker.
Nicotine itself does not cause cancer and is not linked to cancer. It is the many other ingredients in cigarettes and the chemicals produced by the burning of those ingredients that are linked to the formation of cancer cells.
Addiction Of Tobacco
Nicotine is thought to be one of the most addictive substances there is, on the same level as most illegal narcotics. Like cocaine, marijuana, or heroin, nicotine stimulates the adrenal glands to release adrenaline or epinephrine. This in turn stimulates the central nervous system and increases the heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure. Nicotine also increases dopamine, a hormone that affects the brain’s pathways of pleasure and brings about a sense of reward.
Addiction occurs when a person’s brain becomes accustomed to these increased levels of chemicals and hormones in their system and will then be compelled to do whatever is necessary to return these chemicals to that level. This compulsion can be so strong that it overrides common sense and reasoning; a person with an addiction will do just about anything and everything to fulfill that addiction no matter what. In reality, this addiction is actually a form of brain damage as the brain is not meant to function in this way and to produce the cravings it does so that a person fulfills that addiction.
If you’re wondering why cigarettes contain all those extra ingredients we’ve mentioned, many believe that the majority of these elements are meant to enhance nicotine’s affect on the brain, increasing the addiction of the user.
Withdrawal Symptoms
The body has many strange ways of alerting a person to changes it wants to have made. For example, when the body senses the need for food we feel hunger pangs. Pain is the body’s way of alerting us to the fact that something is wrong, either internally or externally, and that it needs to be addressed.
The withdrawal symptoms that someone with an addiction feels when they don’t get what they want are the body’s way of compelling them to fulfill that addiction. Cravings for that item are a common withdrawal symptom and someone trying to quit smoking can feel very strong cravings for cigarettes.
As the chemical and hormone levels also return from their abnormally high levels, an addict can also feel irritable, have difficulty paying attention, experience sleep disturbances, and may also have an increased appetite as eating also releases these chemicals.
You may have already experienced withdrawal symptoms yourself if you’ve tried to quit before. They’re typically different for everyone but usually involve constant thought about cigarettes and smoking. These symptoms can also be experienced even years after a person quits, for example, if you were to be in a smoky bar or someplace that reminds you of smoking. Certain smells may trigger those cravings – if you used to have a cigarette with an afternoon coffee, then the smell of coffee may trigger a craving. Typically however these cravings are lessened as time goes by and may be no more difficult to conquer than the craving for a favorite childhood dessert.
