Surgeon General Report On Tobacco

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Tobacco is a plant which has been used for smoking throughout the world. Scientific knowledge on the impact of tobacco smoking on health has been increased greatly since the first Surgeon General Report on tobacco in 1964. Tobacco is known to cause heart diseases; cancer; lung diseases such as bronchitis; premature birth; stillbirth; infant death and low birth weight. Tobacco smoke contains many harmful elements which are both harmful to smoker and non-smokers. It contains more than 7,000 chemicals out of which 250 are known to be harmful to both smokers and non-smokers. Harmful chemicals include carbon monoxide, cyanide, ammonia etc. Out of the 250 harmful chemicals, 69 chemical in tobacco are known to cause cancer such as arsenic, benzene, …show more content…

Furthermore the lung cancer developed in a smoker is more evolved and lethal. This change in type of lung cancer is due to the change in the formulation of the cigarettes. It is harder for women who smoke to become pregnant. And even if a woman becomes pregnant, there is a high probability of miscarriage; still birth; low weight birth or the baby is born with an abnormality. If a woman smokes during or after pregnancy, the infant is put to risk of death due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). In men, smoking is also known to cause erectile …show more content…

Illinois is ranked 39th in the states for prevalence of cigarette smoking. Within the state, the prevalence of smoking among adult ranges from 9.3% to 26.5%. 10.2% of the youth aged 12-17 are active cigarette smokers. Illinois is ranked 21st among states for number of youth smokers. Across all states, the range of youth smokers lies from 6.5% to 15.9%. It is also estimated that over 16,600 adult smoker of age 35 and above died of tobacco use per year during the year 2002 – 2004. The smoking-attributable mortality rate in Illinois is 263.1/100,000 which gives Illinois 25th position among all states. But Illinois do have strict rules on reducing smoking in workplaces and public places. It has passed a smoke-free law which protects citizens from exposure to smoking in workplaces and public