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WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW
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Tobacco contains over 4,000
chemicals, many of which
are harmful. These include:
• Benzene - solvent used in fuel and chemical
manufacture
• Formaldehyde - highly poisonous, colourless
liquid used to preserve dead bodies
• Ammonia - chemical found in cleaning fluids.
Used in cigarettes to increase the delivery of
nicotine
• Hydrogen cyanide - poisonous gas used in the
manufacture of plastics, dyes, and pesticides.
Often used as a fumigant to kill rats
• Cadmium - extremely poisonous metal found in
batteries
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• Acetone - solvent found in nail polish remover
The three main
components of inhaled
smoke are :
• Nicotine
• Carbon monoxide
• Tar
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It is absorbed into the bloodstream and effects
the brain within 10 seconds. If you are a
regular smoker, when the blood level of
nicotine falls, you usually develop withdrawal
symptoms such as craving, anxiety,
restlessness, headaches, irritability, hunger,
difficulty with concentration, or just feeling
awful. These symptoms are relieved by the
next cigarette. So, most smokers need to
smoke regularly to feel 'normal', and to prevent
withdrawal symptoms.
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Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas
found in car fumes, which reduces the
amount of oxygen carried in the blood.
Oxygen is vital for the body’s organs to
function efficiently. The reduction in
oxygen changes the consistency of the
blood, making it thicker and putting the
heart under increased strain as it pumps
blood around the body.
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Tar
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Effects of Smoking and
the reasons to Stop
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Heart and circulatory
diseases
• Heart attacks and Heart disease (is the biggest
killer illness in the UK. About 120,000 people in
the UK die each year from heart disease).
• Arteriosclerosis - build up of fatty deposits in the
blood vessels. Causes loss of elasticity in the
artery walls, which can lead to diseases such as
stroke, gangrene and aortic aneurysms.
• High blood pressure
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Respiratory disease and
Other illnesses
• Asthma.
• Chronic Polmunary
(About 25,000
people in the UK die each year from this serious lung disease. More
than 8 in 10 of these deaths are directly linked to smoking).
• Increased frequency of colds, particularly chest colds and bronchitis.
• Shortness of breath.
• Headaches.
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• Blood flow to the extremities is decreased (cold hands and
feet).
• Smoking decreases the oxygen supply, requiring a higher
blood pressure, thus causing extensive circulatory problems
and premature heart attacks. Smokers have difficulty running
and exercising.
• Air pollution (auto exhausts, industry wastes, etc.) increases
the lung cancer rate of the smoker, but not of the non-
smoker.
• The time to recover from any specific ill, whether caused by
smoking or not, is much longer for the smoker. Often, a non-
smoker will survive a sickness from which he would have died
had he smoked.
• The smoker's body requires more sleep every night. This
extra sleep must come from his spare time. Besides needing
more sleep, smokers don't sleep as well.
• Smokers are sick more often, Smoking destroys vitamins,
particularly vitamin C and the B's. Lower intelligence has
been related to smoking. In fact, smoking is both a cause and
an effect of lower intelligence, just as smoking is both a
cause and effect of lower income.
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What are the benefits of
stopping smoking?
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Benefits of stopping
smoking include the
following:
– Breathing improves.
– Chest infections and colds become less frequent.
– Reduction in 'smoker's cough'.
– The smell of stale tobacco goes from your breath,
clothes, hair, and face.
– Foods and drinks taste and smell much better.
– Finances improve.
– You are likely to feel good about yourself.
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How can I stop smoking?
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Getting Ready to Quit
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Keep trying. Many ex-smokers did
not succeed at first, but they kept
trying.The first few days after
stopping will probably be the
hardest. Show yourself and to the
others who you are. Life's too good
and too short to waste on that filthy 22