Flores 1
Janet Flores
Professor Alan Hall
English 1301
10 October 2020
Smokers vs. Non-Smokers
Not unknown to the general public are the adverse effects tobacco can exert on one's
health. Despite the media making this knowledge along with the warnings commonplace, the
number of smokers are still on the rise per day. About one billion and one hundred million
people around the globe are estimated to be smokers. Two-thirds of this population has been
residing in countries that are still developing. Iran's Health Ministry has claimed that there are
about 1,000,000 smokers in the country alone, who consume over 50 billion cigarettes every
year. It has also been predicted by the experts that 70% of the people in the next 20 years, who
die of smoking-related diseases, would result in low income generating states around the world.
The use of tobacco is generally considered to affect the lungs, mouth, and teeth of an
individual. On the other hand, a person who does not smoke is relatively safe from the diseases
associated with these parts of the body. These diseases, if developed, can then lead to cancer
followed by death. A musculoskeletal and muscular review showed that the muscles of smokers
showed signs of contraction when compared to those of non-smokers. Lack of attention is often
followed by these muscle contractions in smokers, which can lead to bigger problems afterward.
To conclude the matters stated above the physical skills of smokers adversely differs from those
of the non-smokers.
A sample of youngsters was studied closely to observe the effects smoking had on them
if compared to traits of non-smokers. The mean age of the sample was around 21.44 years. These
Flores 2
smokers had been smoking from 2 to 6 years with an average weight of 66.11 kg. It was
observed that there was a significant difference in the strength of the shoulder belt and the lower
limb muscles of smokers, when compared to the stats of the non-smokers. The dynamic and
isometric strength of the non-smokers was much greater than that of the smokers. It was also
revealed that non-smokers, who had back pain had more muscle strength than the smokers who
had back pain. Thus, cigarette smoking decreases non-aerobic as well as aerobic power.
It has successfully been reported that non-smokers had significantly higher perseverance
than that of smokers. The muscle endurance, when tested for the smokers, was less than that of
the non-smokers. This difference, however, was very small perhaps due to the lower duration of
smoking and lower age factor affecting the final results. While studying things from a third
perspective, when muscle flexibility was brought under consideration it was shown that the
smokers had more muscle flexibility than those who did not smoke, but the difference was
relatively very small. The athletes who smoked also had higher muscle flexibility than their
counterparts. The reason for these stats may be the fact that only a small group of athletes was
selected to complete the research.
The speed and agility of smokers are usually very less than that of non-smokers.
Although the facts observed provide key insights, it was also observed that mild smoking did not
affect the non-aerobic and aerobic capacity of the individuals, along with the muscles and agility.
The smoking rate is thus, responsible for a different rate of contractions of the muscles. It is,
hence, concluded that among the organs that can be threatened by smoking are one's body
muscles. This damage can be the cause of physical strength loss and reduction in social and
active personal power followed by wasted time and economic damage.