Even one cigarette is enough to cause cancer

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This month, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin released their first report on the effects of smoke snuff. (This is the first report as Dr. Benjamin, but it's day 30 in a series of similar reports since 1964.) The 700-page report describes in detail the effects of cigarettes and snuff have on the body of a person. It is the first report to claim that even one cigarette is enough to cause cancer, heart attack and damage to other organs.

The report emphasizes that snuff smoke contains over 7000 chemical substances, hundreds of which are toxic and 70 of which are carcinogenic. These chemical assault the body, leading to cancer, lung damage, cardiovascular disease, and fertility problems. Smoking also causes blood sugar levels in the blood difficult to control, and decreases the effectiveness of many medications. Even a brief exposure to cigarettes or secondhand smoke, the report said, is enough to trigger cardiovascular disease and acute cardiovascular events.

As if the body damage was not enough, the report also reiterates the fact that cigarette exposure during the prenatal period or early childhood can lead to sudden death syndrome in infants. Countless studies have documented an increased risk of hormonal imbalances, allergic diseases, respiratory diseases, and immune system dysfunction in infants and young children exposed to cigarette smoke at an early age.

Approximately 85% of lung cancers, one of the documented risks of cigarette smoking, are attributed to smoking. In addition, 13 other types of cancer are directly related to cigarette exposure, including cancers of the esophagus, trachea, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder and cervix, and leukemia. Over 440,000 people die each year in the United States due to diseases related to snuff.

Since 1964, proclaiming that smoking was, in fact, harmful to health, smoking prevalence has declined steadily. However, adult smoking rates have stagnated in the last decade. Currently, an estimated 46 million American adults - about 1 in 5 - are smokers. (The prevalence of smoking among adults worldwide - in particular European countries - is 2 to 3 times higher than in the United States. ) The fact that so many people still choose to smoke, despite the evidence of harm, is due, in part, the fact that cigarette manufacturers have made cigarettes more addictive in recent years. Until last year, the Food and Drug Administration has no power to regulate the industry snuff, but that has changed the Obama administration has launched a multi-pronged attack against the use of snuff, also increasing funding for smoking cessation programs through state and local agencies, as well as Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. (It will be interesting to see if the president Obama takes advantage of these offers in an attempt to rid himself of his bad habit once and for all.)

While the Surgeon General's report is full of sound, detailed, scientific, will change anyone's mind - or smoking? People already know that smoking is unhealthy, and many still choose to smoke. More scientific data is not going to break the habit for most smokers. In the report, and related legislation and regulation, may provide more ammunition for health professionals to persuade smokers to take advantage of smoking cessation programs sponsored by the government, but it is doubtful that a person hears the Directorate General of Health thinks smoking a cigarette or evil, and finally decide to quit smoking. best, the information will discourage anyone from taking up smoking in the first place.