Short & Long-Term Consequences of Tobacco

Tobacco use causes more than 443,000 deaths annually in the United States alone. The majority of those deaths occur from first-hand smoke, with 49,000 the result of second-hand smoke.

Tobacco is a plant that naturally contains the stimulant nicotine. The leaves of the tobacco plant are used commercially to make cigarettes, chew, snuff, pipe tobacco and cigars. Chemicals are added to tobacco to enhance the delivery of nicotine to the brain, making tobacco products highly addictive. Commercially sold tobacco contains thousands of chemicals, at least 69 of which are cancer-causing and hundreds more of which are considered toxic. Tobacco harms nearly every organ in the body.

Chemicals

• Among the nearly 70 cancer-causing chemicals are formaldehyde, also found in embalming fluid; benzene, found in gasoline; polonium 210, a radioactive compound; and vinyl chloride, which is used to make plastic pipes. Some of the toxic metals are chromium, used in steel making; arsenic, also found in pesticides; cadmium, used for making batteries; and lead. Other chemicals include butane, toluene, methanol, methane, propane and radon.

Financial

• Smoking costs $193 billion in healthcare expenses annually.

  Tobacco use is an enormous burden on the U.S. economy. Smoking alone costs $193 billion dollars annually: $97 billion in lost work productivity and $96 billion in healthcare costs. Children and adults exposed to second-hand smoke miss more school and work days and are hospitalized or visit the doctor more often. Second-hand smoke costs $10 billion annually.

Health: Short-Term

• Blood pressure returns to a normal level 20 minutes after a cigarette.

  Short-term health effects are those considered more likely to be temporary, and tend to improve when people are longer using or exposed to tobacco. For example, smokers generally have higher blood pressure than non-smokers, but find that 20 minutes after their last cigarette, blood pressure lowers to a normal level. Tobacco negatively affects the body's ability to regulate blood sugar, and can cause asthmatics to have more severe symptoms. When smoked, nicotine reaches the brain within seven to ten seconds, and as a stimulant causes a faster heart rate and can exacerbate anxiety. Carbon monoxide levels in smokers are much higher, and conversely, oxygen levels are lower. Other health effects include yellowing of the teeth, bad breath and, in men, a reduced sperm count.

Health: Long-Term

• Smokers die an average of 13 to 14 years earlier than non-smokers.

  Tobacco has multiple effects on the circulatory system, including an increased risk of coronary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, heart attacks and strokes. Smoking causes lung disease such as cancer, asthma, bronchitis and empysema. People who die of emphysema experience a very gradual loss of lung capacity, and their slowly increasing breathlessness can feel like suffocation.

  Lung cancer is only one of the many cancers caused by tobacco use. Examples of other tobacco-related cancers are those of the throat, esophagus, pancreas and bladder. Other possible negative health effects are gum disease, tooth loss, miscarriage or sudden infant death syndrome.

  Smokers die an average of 13 to 14 years earlier than non-smokers do. According to the Centers for Disease Control, tobacco use causes more annual deaths than human immunodeficiency virus, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.