The inhalation and exhalation of smoke from burning tobacco in the form of cigarettes, cigars, and pipes are known as smoking. Historically smoking in the West was done as part of rituals and for medicinal purposes. It started in the late 1500s. Now smoking is a fad. It is a social prestige as well a regular habit.
Smokers smoke tobacco to relieve tensions and pressures of life. Both the sexes, tha,t is men and women smoke and even teenagers have taken to smoking. Efforts have been on to control smoking and anti-smoking campaigns have been held to ban smoking in public places. In fact, in many countries, smoking has been banned in public places. The anti-smoking campaigners have focused on the ill-effects of smoking on health.
Quite a few smokers get addicted to nicotine. They simply cannot do without a cigarette. They end up being chain smokers. Obviously, their health gets affected due to excessive smoking.
Teenagers often follow adults and take to smoking at an early age. In their adulthood, they face health problems. Efforts are on to make children aware that smoking is bad for health.
Ill-effects of Smoking on Health
- It is cancer prone. One can develop lung cancer and other forms of cancer.
- Nicotine in tobacco is addictive and injurious to health.
- It can lead to cardio – vascular diseases, strokes etc.
- Affects male potency.
- Pregnant women can give birth to a baby with mental and physical deformities.
Efforts to Regulate Smoking
- Smoking has been banned in several countries in public places.
- Advertisements should not promote cigarette smoking.
- Anti-smoking campaigns are held to prevent smoking.
- In schools, authorities are trying to educate the children about ill-effects of smoking.
Smoking is definitely a habit which is detrimental to health. Yet,, people s moke. It provides thcarcinogenfrom daily tensions.
What is Tar Smoking
Nicotine is the ingredient which keeps the smoker addicted to smoking.The Chief destructive ingredient in a cigarette is, however, the Tar, the primary carcinogen.It is the tacky brown substance found at the end of the cigarette filter.This article tries to understand the harmful effects of Tar smoking.
Concentration of Tar in cigarette smoking
The presence of Tar increases as the cigarette burns down gradually.The last puff of the cigarette contains twice the amount of tar as compared to the first puff.
Based on the concentration of tar,the cigarette can be rated as:
High-tar cigarettes: These cigarettes contain at least 22 milligrams (mg) of tar
Medium-tar cigarettes: These cigarettes contain tar from 15 mg to 21 mg.
Low-tar cigarettes: These cigarettes contain tar up to 7 mg or less of tar.
Role of Filters in Tar Smoking
- The filter screens out tar and nicotine in order to make smoking safer.
- It contains tiny invisible perforations.
- When smoke flows through the filter,it mixes with the air.
- The smoker drags this smoke,he receives less smoke and more air along with less tar and nicotine.
- Though the filters reduce the intake of harmful ingredients like tar in smoking,they do not make smoking safer.
- It is because there are several other carnicogen which pass in to the body unchecked by the filters.
Effect on Tar Smoking on the organ Lungs
- No other organ gets badly affected by tar than the organ lungs.
- When the presence of tar in less in the lung,it ejects the tar from the lungs through the small holes called the cilia.
- But as the concentration of the tar increases with the habitual smoking, these openings in the lungs (the Cilia),become narrower as the tar starts to get deposited there.
- This leads to lung diseases like emphysema, chronic bronchitis and cancer.
- Though it is an up hill task,the only alternative to get rid of Tar smoking is to stop smoking.