Tobacco Notes
What is tobacco??
 An agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants which contain
nicotine.
 All methods of tobacco consumption result in quantities of nicotine being
absorbed into the bloodstream.
Types of Tobacco:
 Snuff: is a product made from ground tobacco leaves. It is an example of
smokeless tobacco. It is generally inhaled through the nose either directly from
the fingers or by using specially made "snuffing" devices.
 Chewing tobacco or “dip”: is a type of smokeless tobacco product consumed
by placing a portion of the tobacco between the cheek and gum or teeth and
chewing.
 Cigarettes: A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a
cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and
allowed to burn; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to
the mouth. Most modern manufactured cigarettes are filtered and include
reconstituted tobacco and other additives
 Hookah: also known as a waterpipe is a single or multi-stemmed (often glassbased) instrument for smoking in which the smoke is cooled by water.
Staggering Statistics:
1. Tobacco related illnesses kill appx. 488,000 US citizens per year which is about 1,205
people per day
-every 8.0 seconds someone dies from tobacco use
-at this rate cigarettes will kill a billion people in this century alone
2. Leading cause of preventable death in the US today
3. 1/10 people will get lung cancer, 1/6 men will get lung cancer
4. Men smoke slightly more than women
5. Most smokers started when they were teens
6. Only 5% of high school seniors who smoke daily think they will definitely be smoking
in five years when in fact almost 75% of those same students still smoke five years later
7. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including ammonia (floor/toilet bowl
cleaner), arsenic (rat poison), formaldehyde (embalming fluid), and hydrogen cyanide
(gas chamber poison)
Health Illnesses linked to Tobacco:
Cancers-560,000 deaths
1. Lung cancer-160,400 deaths
2. Cancer of the kidney
3. Cancer of the bladder
4. Breast cancer
5. Esophagus cancer
6. Larynx cancer
7. Cancer of the stomach
8. Pancreatic cancer
-30% of all cancer cases are heavily influenced by tobacco use
Health Illnesses:
Cardiovascular
 Stroke
 Heart disease
Respiratory
1. Common cold
2. Birth defects-reproductive process impaired by the use of tobacco (infertility,
pregnancy problems, health of newborn is affected)
3. Bronchitis
4. COPD- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
5. Buerger’s disease (gangrene)
6. Cataracts
7. Emphysema-irreversible
What is in cigarettes that make them so addicting? Nicotine
Nicotine and Addiction:
 Nicotine is a stimulant
 It speeds up heart rate about 20 beats per minute with every cigarette
 Over time, tolerance and dependence develop
 Absorption quantity, frequency, and speed have a direct relationship with how
strong a dependence (or addiction) and tolerance one may have
 On average, it takes about 10 seconds for nicotine to reach the brain and because
of this many smokers feel as if they are unable to quit.
Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease:
 Increases the chance of heart disease
 Several ingredients of tobacco lead to narrowing of the blood vessels which
increases the likelihood of blockage and thus creates a heart attack or a stroke
 People under 40 who smoke are 5 times more likely to have a heart attack than
non-smokers
 2 pack-a-day cigarette smokers can expect to die 7-8 years earlier than a
nonsmoker due to heart related illness
Major Oral Health Issues:
 Oral cancer- mouth, lips, tongue, gums
 Esophagus/pharynx cancer
 Periodonitis
 Receding gums- periodonitis disease, dip are some causes
 halitosis
Secondhand Smoke:
 Long Term Effects:
 Can cause the same problems as direct smoking such as heart disease,
cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, etc.
 Short Term Effects:
 Mild asthma attacks, stuffy/runny nose, coughing, wheezing, etc.
 Increases heart disease by 25-30% and lung cancer by 20-30%
 Every ten minutes, secondhand smoke kills a non-smoker
Physical and Psychological Effects on Smokers:
 When first starting to smoke
 Non-smokers: nausea, dizziness, rapid heart beat
 Goes away with tolerance build up
 When trying to quit smoking
 Smokers: when denied access to nicotine; irritability, jitteriness, dry mouth, rapid
heart beat, insomnia, and/or mild depression will usually occur
 What do these symptoms illustrate?
 if a person quits for three months they are usually able to remain smoke free for
the rest of their lives
 difficult to stop because: onset of symptoms occurs very rapidly
 In adolescence this can occur from only smoking 4-5 cigarettes
Ways to quit smoking:
1.Nicotine patch/gun/pill
2.Chewing gum/suckers
3.Plastic cigarettes
4.Hotline
5.Therapy/group support
Reasons people use Tobacco:
1.Image
2.Lose weight/be thin
3.Peer pressure
4.Nicotine addiction/relaxation
5.Looking older/ “its more grown up”
6.Advertising
Tobacco and advertising:
What are tobacco ads selling?
1. A cool image
2. Good looks/glamour
3. Friends/popularity
4. Hanging out/dating
5. Tastes good
What Tobacco ads do not show:
1. Ashtrays
2. Lit cigarettes
3. Yellow teeth
4. Yellow fingers
5. Burns mouth and lungs
6. Wrinkles
7. Spit stains from chewing
8. Bad breath
9. Tar on the lungs
10. Difficulties breathing
11. Burns and holes in clothing
Vocab Words:
1. Nicotine: addictive substance in tobacco
2. Peptic Ulcer: an open sore in the stomach lining
3. Cardiovascular Disease: Disease of the heart and blood vessels
4. Atherosclerosis: fatty deposits that block the arteries
5. Aveoli: air sacs in the lungs
6. Leukoplakia: White spots on the inside of the mouth that may become cancerous
7. Bronchioles: narrow air tubes in the lungs
8. Cilia: tiny, hair-like structures that filter out harmful substances in the respiratory
tract
9. Tar: dark, sticky substance in tobacco that causes cancer
10. Chronic Bronchitis: excessive secretions of mucus in the bronchial tubes
11. Sinusitis: swelling and reddening of the sinuses
12. Emphysema: air sacs in the lungs lose their elasticity
13. Cancer: abnormal growth of cells
14. Lungs: organs responsible for O2 and CO2 exchange
15. Snuff: finely ground tobacco that is sniffed
16. Chewing Tobacco: tobacco that is dipped and held between the cheek and gum
17. Carbon Monoxide: poisonous gas produced by tobacco smoke
18. Hemoglobin: substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen to all cells
19. Anoxia: decrease in the oxygen level on the body
20. Carcinogen: cancer causing agent
21. Stimulant: a drug or drugs that temporarily increase alertness and awareness
22. Withdrawal: signs and symptoms that appear when a drug that causes a physical
dependence is regularly used for a long time and then is suddenly discontinued or
decreased in dosage
23. Halitosis: odors exhaled while breathing
24. Receding Gums: loss of gum tissue or occurrence of gum lesions
25. Benzopyrene: cancer causing chemical in cigarette smoke
26. Periodonitis: A collection of inflammatory diseases affecting tissues that
surround/support the teeth.