Smoking Notes
Smoking Notes
CIGARETTE SMOKING
Emphysema and chronic bronchitis belong to a group of diseases under the umbrella of
COPD and are caused by cigarette smoking.
Emphysema results from damage to the alveoli and chronic bronchitis, which is
inflammation of the bronchioles, results increased mucus production which impedes
airflow to the lungs.
Tar sticks to the inside lining of the alveoli and causes irreversible damage to lung tissue
(emphysema). This decreases the surface area of gaseous exchange.
The smoke from cigarettes contain small particles of soot (burnt organic matter) which
get trapped in the lining of the lungs. They irritate the lungs causing chronic coughing.
Nicotine Physical Effects:
The smoke from cigarettes also contains nicotine, a powerful chemical which although it
isn’t cancer causing, affects other parts of the body including the heart.
Nicotine causes vasoconstriction (where the blood vessels contract) and also causes an
increased heart rate. Both of these contribute to a stark rise in blood pressure which can
lead to a heart attack or stroke.
Nicotine also causes constriction of the airways (bronchi and bronchioles) thus reducing
airflow into and out of the lungs.
Nicotine also paralyzes the cilia lining the trachea. This can result in increased incidence
of respiratory infections in smokers.
Nictoine Addiction:
Nicotine is also a very addictive drug making cigarette smoking very difficult to give up
once a person begins.
Research has shown that it takes 3 to 4 cigarettes for a person to become a regular
smoker. Not because they become physically addicted but because they develop a
tolerance for the taste and effects of the drug and they enjoy the image that it gives them.
Once an individual becomes a regular smoker, they suffer from uncomfortable feelings of
anxiety and irritability that are only relieved by smoking (physical addiction).
These effects are the first effects of withdrawal of the drug from their system. This leads
them to believe that cigarette smoking calms their nerves when in fact, it is the craving
for nicotine that is satisfied by the smoking.
When carbon monoxide is inhaled from the cigarette smoke, it moves from the lungs into
the blood because it is in low concentration in the blood.
It binds irreversibly to hemoglobin i.e. once it binds to hemoglobin, it cannot be
removed. This leaves less and less hemoglobin free to carry oxygen and so, less and less
oxygen reaches the tissues.
This causes breathlessness and decreased tolerance for physical activity in smokers.
In fact, if a pregnant woman smokes, the carbon monoxide that enters her blood binds
irreversibly to her hemoglobin. This means that her blood is less able to carry oxygen.
This limits the oxygen that reaches the fetus and can result in the birth of a child with low
birth weight.
Children with low birth weight are at a greater risk of developing health problems during
and after birth.
MARIJUANA SMOKING
Persons who smoke marijuana usually smoke the dried buds of the plant Cannabis sativa
or Cannabis indica.
The active ingredient in cannabis tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This is what gives users
that ‘high’ feeling or feeling of euphoria.
Marijuana is usually smoked without a filter and users inhale deeply and hold the smoke
in their lungs for longer. The effects on the lungs are thus amplified i.e. more carbon
monoxide and debris enters the lungs.