Tobacco use Kylie Patching, Year 11, HHD Determinates of health multimedia presentation

What is Tobacco? Tobacco is a green leafy plant that is grown in a crop and most commonly used to make cigarettes. Tobacco contains Nicotine which is just one of the more than 4000 chemicals found in tobacco. Nicotine is a stimulant so it speeds up the nervous system and makes you feel like you have more energy. It is the nicotine in tobacco that makes it a drug. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. Nicotine is said to be addictive in the same ways that heroin and cocaine are. Cigarettes Dried out tobacco Tobacco plant.

Some of the chemicals in cigarettes

Why is tobacco a determinate of health? Tobacco is considered a determinate of health because of the bad affects it has on your body/ health. Some of the effects that happen to your body are.. Heart disease Emphysema Cancer Chronic lung disease High cholesterol Osteoporosis Gum disease Sleep problems Chronic bowel disease Infertility And many more!!

Physical effects on health Tobacco affects your health physically. Some of the physical affects are, -Respiratory problems; your lungs hold onto 85-90% of all the things you inhale. With respiratory problems you may experience, wheezing, increased coughing, more chest colds than usual and shortness of breath. Gastrointestinal effects; You may be diagnosed with peptic ulcers (an erosion in the lining of the stomach causing an ulcer). If you use tobacco, peptic ulcers are more likely to take longer to heal and have more of a chance of coming back again. You may also get chronic bowel disease (crohn’s disease) and once again if you are a tobacco user then it will take longer to cure and be more likely to return. Teeth and gums; Tobacco is one of the most common effects on oral health. The most common effect is oral cancer. You may also develop gum disease, rotting teeth and tooth decay (cavities). Other effects; Osteoporosis has been found to be most common in people who use tobacco. This means you are predisposed (have more of a chance of getting) to bone fractures. smoking has also been linked to sleeping problems, having trouble getting to sleep and disturbed sleep. Smoking lessens the blood flow in the small blood vessels in the skin which damages the skin and can lead to earlier wrinkling and premature aging in both men and women.

Emotional effects on health Tobacco use will effect you emotionally. When you smoke, you get an emotional dependency for nicotine. Some of the emotional effects are; Satisfaction; when smokers get a dose of nicotine, they get a feeling of satisfaction because the nicotine relieves the feeling of stress associated with the craving of nicotine. Energy; Because of nicotine being a stimulant, inhaling nicotine energizers the smoker and may help to ‘wake’ them up. Stress; When smokers are stopped from having a smoke when they feel they need to, their body makes them stress because it is used to having nicotine in the system, Fatigue; Tobacco users start to feel tired and yucky when they are starting to run out of nicotine in their body. This is caused by the stimulant effect of nicotine. Pleasure; When smokers have to wait to have a cigarette, they feel a great amount of pleasure from inhaling. This is because of the way their body knows the relief it will get from the nicotine.

Social effects on health Some of the social effects of tobacco use are; Friends; If your friends smoke they may encourage you to, there may be peer pressure involved. Alcohol; With a lot of people, mainly adolescence when experimenting with alcohol with friends may experiment with tobacco as well. A lot of adolescent males may drink with older males and may be tempted to have a cigarette with their mates which may seem not harmful at the time but may lead to addiction or health issues. Family; You have a disposition to using tobacco if your parents or close family smoke. This is because you have grown up around it, it is ‘in your face’ and they seem to be encouraging it by making it seem like its the right thing to do. Socialising; Some people will smoke or experiment with smoking because it is what everyone else is doing. You always see people outside pubs, offices and buildings huddling in groups having a smoke. Another social effect is that it that an easy conversation starter may be, ‘want a smoke? Or do you have a lighter?

Intellectual effect on health Of course, Tobacco use does effect you intellectually. Some of the intellectual effects on your health are; Addiction; Because of the nicotine, smoking causes you to become addicted. Once you are addicted, it is hard to quit smoking. Many smokers try to quit but fail. If they don’t give their body the nicotine when it needs it they may suffer withdrawal symptoms. Some of these symptoms are: depression, anxiety, decreased heart rate, nausea, vomiting, irritability, hostility (anger or rage) or weight gain. Anxiety; Many people think that nicotine reduces stress. There is evidence from the Stirling County Study, where a study was done, which found that nicotine has been found to be a cause of anxiety disorders in those who smoke. They also found out that people who quit smoking were relieved of anxiety. Depression; with studies that have been done recently, depression has been found to be linked to smokers. There is a higher percentage of people with depression that smoke than those who don’t. Once people quit smoking, they stopped experiencing their depressing symptoms.

Smoking and pregnancy We all know that smoking while you are pregnant will harm the pregnant woman and also the unborn child. Some of the complications you may experience if you smoke while pregnant may be; Ectopic pregnancy; this is pregnancy outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tube Foetal death; death of the baby in the uterus Spontaneous abortion; known as miscarriage Problems with the placenta, including early detachment from the uterine wall and blocking the cervical opening (placenta previa) Premature labour. Some of the effects on the foetus can be; Reduced oxygen supply; due to carbon monoxide and nicotine Retarded growth and development Increased heart rate and disruption of the baby’s breathing movements in the womb; due to the effects of nicotine.

Smoking and pregnancy, cont. The effects at birth may be; Increased risk of premature birth Increased risk of miscarriage and infant death Lower birth weight ; about 200g less than a normal birth weight. Up to three times the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Statistics

The most recent figures available in the 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey showed that: • the average age at which Australian smokers took up tobacco smoking was at 15 years of age • it was estimated that in 2001 approximately 3.6 million Australians aged 14 years or older were smokers • one in five (19.5%) Australians aged 14 years or older smoked daily in 2001 • one in two (49.4%) Australians aged 14 years or older had smoked at least 100 cigarettes or the equivalent amount of tobacco at some time in their lives

Percentage of adults who were current smokers in 2009 By Gender 23 Percentage of adults who were current smokers in 2009 By Gender 23.5% of adult men 17.9% of adult women By Age 21.8% of adults aged 18–24 years 24.0% of adults aged 25–44 years 21.9% of adults aged 45–64 years  9.5%  of adults aged 65 years and older By Race/Ethnicity 23.2% of American Indians/Alaska Natives 12.0% of (excluding Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) 21.3% of blacks (non-Hispanic) 14.5% of Hispanics 22.1% of whites (non-Hispanic) By Education 49.1% of adults with a GED diploma 33.6% of adults with 9–11 years of education 11.1% of adults with an undergraduate college degree  5.6%  of adults with a graduate college degree By Poverty Status 31.1% of adults who live below the poverty level 19.4% of adults who live at or above the poverty level

Bibliography http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/ http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/smoking/psychologicalinfluences_000509.htm http://www.semcaprevention.org/tobacco.html