Why you should not smoke cigarettes
| Subject: | 🏥 Health Care |
| Type: | Persuasive Essay |
| Pages: | 2 |
| Word count: | 586 |
| Topics: | 🚬 Smoking, Breast Cancer, Cancer, Health, Public Health |
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Cigarette smoking is one of the riskiest behaviors that lead to serious health problems. While active smokers are the mainly affected, cigarette smoking also affects passive smokers due to inhalation of the smoke. Cigarette is said to contain 4000 different chemicals whose sizes vary considerably. Some cigarette chemicals are atomic sized, and others are particulate matter. Moreover, a person’s intensity of smoking, cigarette brand, and smoking behavior determine the amount and type of chemicals inhaled. The aim of this paper is to discuss why one should not smoke cigarettes because cigarette smoking causes breast, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular diseases.
The first reason why you should not smoke cigarettes is because cigarette smoking is one of the causes of breast cancer. The study has shown that there is a high risk of breast cancer not only to active smokers but also passive smokers (Dossus et al., 1872). The increased risks for breast cancer according to Dossus and the colleagues are associated with higher pack-years, cumulating pack-years of smoking from menarche to the first full-term pregnancy, and smoking duration. Among the 322,988 women included in the study, there were 9,822 cases of breast cancer for active smokers and 6,264 for passive smokers. However, the number was minimal for non-passive and non-active smokers. The researchers contend that “there may be an increased risk of heavy smoking, smoking of long duration, smoking before a first full-term pregnancy (FFTP) and passive smoking” (Dossus et al., 1882). It is thus evident that smoking is a leading cause of breast cancer.
The second reason why you should not smoke a cigarette is because it causes rheumatoid arthritis. Statistics show that smokers have a 40 percent higher risk of developing RA compared to non-smokers (Di Giuseppe et al., 1). Nevertheless, Di Giuseppe et al. argue that it is still not clear about the dose-response relationship of the increased RA and the pack-years. However, it has been established that increased cigarette smoking has been associated with increased RA. Both heavy and light smokers should be cautioned because they are all at the risk of developing RA as argued by the scholars “Light smoking as well as heavy smoking could increase the risk of RA due to the triggering of the immune system against citrullinated proteins antigens.” (Di Giuseppe, et al., 2).
The third reason why you should not smoke cigarettes is because it causes cardiovascular diseases. According to the World Health Organisation, cigarette smoking contributes to 10 percent of the cardiovascular-related diseases. Smoking was found to interfere with the quantity of lipids and also changing them (Messner and David, 509). Additionally, the oxidants and radicals in the cigarette smoke are responsible for causing pro-oxidant environment thereby resulting in the oxidation of lipids. For this reason Messner and David 509) contend that “for the past decades, it has been clear that smoking is an important (and modifiable) risk factor for CVDs” (Messner and David, 510). CVDs are complex diseases that pose a threat to human life.
In conclusion, cigarette smoking is one of the predisposing factors for many diseases. Among them are breast cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular diseases. It is also evident that both active and passive smokers are at risk of developing such diseases. However, the duration of cigarette smoking, pack-years, smoking intensity, and dose-response are some of the factors that influence a person’s risk of diseases. Nonetheless, cigarette smoking cessation is one of the most efficient measures for preventing or reversing the damage that has already been caused by the chemicals in cigarettes.
- Di Giuseppe, Daniela, et al. “Cigarette smoking and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: a dose-response meta-analysis.” Arthritis research & therapy 16.2 (2014): R61. Print.
- Dossus, Laure, et al. “Active and passive cigarette smoking and breast cancer risk: results from the EPIC cohort.” International journal of cancer 134.8 (2014): 1871-1888. Print.
- Messner, Barbara, and David Bernhard. “Smoking and cardiovascular disease.” Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology 34.3 (2014): 509-515. Print.
Offered for reference purposes only.