Tobacco Unit Notes
Health Education
Mr. Bower
Name:_____________
“Tobacco use, particularly smoking, is the number one cause of preventable disease and death in
the United States.”
~Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., FACS — U.S. Surgeon General
What You Need To Know!
•An estimated 443,000 Americans die each year from diseases caused by smoking.
•Each day, nearly 6,000 children under 18 years of age start smoking; of these, nearly 2,000 will
become regular smokers.
•Approximately ___percent of smokers begin smoking before the age of ___. They will become
lifelong customers of the TOBACCO companies!
•At current rates, an estimated 6.4 million children will die prematurely from a smoking-related
disease.
•Of adolescents who have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime, most of them report
that they would ___________, but are not able to do so.
Amazing statistic!!!
•Each year, smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders,,
suicides, and fires . . . combined.
What’s in a Cigarette?
•With each puff of a cigarette you experience:
–_________________- addictive drug found in tobacco
•Stimulant
–Speeds up the Central Nervous system
–Increases heart rate
–Raises blood pressure
•Nicotine is
associated with ___________________________
– in a pure form, is one of the most ____________________ known to man and is habit forming
•After nicotine enters the lungs, it is absorbed immediately into the bloodstream and within 8
seconds reaches the brain
•First time users have no tolerance to nicotine and will experience a racing heart, sweating,
nausea, and dizziness
•Nicotine – eventually smokers will build up a tolerance to nicotine and their bodies will become
physically dependent on it.
When smokers attempt to quit they will experience:
1. Headaches
2. irritability
3. Restlessness 4. feelings of illness
•With
each puff of a cigarette you experience:
–___________________- colorless, odorless, ________________________
–When carbon monoxide is inhaled, it attaches itself to the hemoglobin in your
red blood cells.
This prevents oxygen from joining up with the hemoglobin which causes shortness of breath –
–Anoxia – decreases oxygen level in the body
•Carbon Monoxide increased risk for High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease and Arteriosclerosis
•Carbon Monoxide is commonly found the exhaust from cars.
–__________ Thick, sticky dark fluid produced when tobacco burns
•Tar enters respiratory system causing problems
•Upper Respiratory System (Trachea)
–Destroys ______________
–Cilia - Tiny hair like projections that move ____________________
out of respiratory system
•Lower Respiratory System (Lungs and Alveoli)
–Tar binds to lung tissue keeping it from moving normally
–Tar binds to alveoli blocking exchange of oxygen and carbon monoxide
–Tar also contains carcinogens (cancer causing products) that are liked to cancer of the mouth,
lung and throat.
4. _______________________
–cancer causing agents
–In addition to Nicotine, Carbon Monoxide and Tar, tobacco contains around ______________.
Pipe and Cigar Tobacco
•Just like cigarettes, pipes and cigars cause problems.
•Cigars contain more nicotine and produce more tar and carbon monoxide than cigarettes.
•Increased risk of Lip, Mouth and Throat cancers
1 cigar = ____________________ (Nicotine)
Smokeless Tobacco
Chewing Tobacco
•Tobacco that is cut into strips and chewed or stored in mouth
•Contains nicotine
–Absorbed through mucous membranes in mouth
•Contains _______________- carcinogens
•2-3x as much nicotine/carcinogens are absorbed due to storing in mouth
•Leukoplakia - pre-cancer white spots inside the mouth
Snuff
•Tobacco that is ground up into fine grits and is snorted though the nose
•Contains nicotine
–Absorbed through mucous membranes in nose
•Contains 28 carcinogens
Long-Term Effect of Tobacco Use
1. Cardiovascular disease – is a disease of the heart and blood vessels.
•The chemicals of tobacco force the heart to work harder to deliver oxygen to the body.
Therefore, the smoker is at a higher risk of the following:
Long-term effects
(1)High blood pressure
(2)Heart attack – a smoker is three times more likely to suffer from a heart attack than a non
smoker
(3)A heart attack is 5 to10 times more likely to kill a smoker than a nonsmoker
2. Respiratory disease
So just what is “smoker’s cough”???
As tar destroys cilia, dust particles and mucus accumulate in the air passages, causing the smoker
to cough to try to clean out the air passages.
•When coughing can no longer keep the air passages clear, the smoker eventually develops:
a. Chronic Bronchitis – the bronchial tubes are swollen and clogged with mucus. People with
this disease have a hard time filling their lungs with air.
There is no cure for this disease

b. Emphysema –is a breathing disorder in which the small sacs in the lungs lose their elasticity
•Air sacs in your body resemble tiny balloons that no amount of puffing will fill those sacs up
when one has emphysema
•A person with this disease cannot rid this body of carbon monoxide
•Damage done to the lungs from emphysema cannot be reversed or improved.
3. Cancer – tobacco use is a major factor in developing certain cancers
•Lung cancer – one of the most deadly form of cancer. 87% of deaths related to lung cancer are
related to smoking.
•Oral cancers – cancer of the mouth , throat, and tongue
•Leukoplakia – small painless sores in the mouth can be a first indicator of possible mouth
cancer
Tobacco use and pregnancy
Chemicals can pass directly from the mother to the fetus which can result in:
•Increased heart rate
•Low birth rate
•Slow mental development
•Miscarriages or still births
•Nursing mothers can pass nicotine to the infant from breast milk
Passive smoking
•Nonsmokers who involuntarily breath side stream smoke become passive smokers
•There is twice as much tar and nicotine in side stream smoke as in mainstream smoke
•Side-stream smoke contains three times as much CO as mainstream smoke
Passive smoking
•Each year passive smoking contributes to 150,000 to 300,000 cases of bronchitis and
pneumonia in babies and triggers 8,000 to 26,000 new cases of asthma in previously unaffected
children
•Asthma and other allergies are often made worse in the presence of tobacco smoke
•Long-term exposure to other people’s smoke increases your risk of heart disease and lung
cancer.
Smoking and the Body
•Tobacco products can cause damage to many body systems.
Stroke
•Clot in the brain (Kills brain tissue)
Cataracts
•Opaque covering over the eye
Mouth and Throat
Lung Cancer
Coronary Heart Disease
Atherosclerosis
.
Resource
•All pictures were taken from the Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking Tobacco
•http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/sgranimation/welcome.html
Tobacco Affects All Areas of Life
•Mental Health: impairs ability to concentrate and relax.
•Family and Social Health: Smoke can hurt others that are in the room
–People may not want to hang out (Smell or look)
•Growth & Development: Women who smoke have LBW babies.
•Nutrition: Impairs your sense of taste.
•Exercise and Fitness: Decreased Cardiovascular endurance.
•Drugs: Produces physical and psychological dependence.
•Disease and Disorders: Increased risk of heart and lung disease.
•Personal Health: Teeth turn yellow, fingers turn yellow, breath smells.
•Safety and First Aid: Major cause of home fires (smoking in bed)
•Environmental Health: Major source of indoor pollution.
•Legally Implications: Selling to or buying tobacco under 18 is illegal
•Financial Implications: Very costly
Cost of Smoking
•On average, the price of tobacco products is as follows:
–$4.00 pack of cigarettes
–$3.25 can of chewing tobacco
•How much money would you spend in 1 month if you smoked/chewed 1 pack a day.
–1 Year
–10 years
–25 years
The “TRUE” Cost of Smoking
CHANGES IN A SMOKER’S BODY AFTER QUITTING
Within 20 minutes of last cig:
•Bl. Pressure and pulse rate return to normal
•Body temp. of hands and feet increase to normal
8 hours:
•Carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal
•Oxygen level in blood increases to normal
1 day:
•Chance of heart attack decreases
2 days:
•Ability to smell and taste improves
3 days:
•Bronchial tubes relax
•Lung capacity increases
2 weeks to 3 months:
•Circulation improves
•Walking becomes easier
•Lung function increases up to 30%
1 - 9 months:
•Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath decrease
•Cilia re-grow, increasing ability to handle mucus, thus reducing risk of infection
•Body’s overall energy level increases
5 years:
•Risk of developing lung cancer or coronary heart disease decreases dramatically
10 Years:
• precancerous cells are replaced
•Risk of developing lung cancer is nearly the same as for a nonsmoker