...One of the four social determinants is individual behavior and lifestyle choices. It includes diet, physical activity, and at risk health habits such as smoking (C. Mattheus, personal communication, April 2015). According to the CDC “Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or 1 of every 5 deaths” (DHHS,2014). Smoking-related illness and disease in the United States costs more than $300 billion each year. Nearly $170 billion is spent on direct medical care for adults and more than $156 billion in lost productivity, including $5.6 billion in lost productivity due to secondhand smoke exposure (Xu, 2014). These statistics and numbers are staggering and very troubling. Just as troubling is the economics behind tobacco advertising “In 2012, tobacco companies spent $9.6 billion marketing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. This amount translates to about $26 million each day, or more than $1 million every hour” (FTC,2012). With that kind of dollar power behind the industry it is no wonder smokers are so challenged with the prospect of quitting and new smokers are caught up by the marketing. There are numerous choices to kick the habit that can reduce this unnecessary burden on the health care system and one’s own personal health. Start by speaking with a physician, try counseling, join a support group, or if necessary stronger prescription therapy such as the patch. One is never...
Words: 376 - Pages: 2
...Marijuana is bad, period. People today who think marijuana is safer than smoking a cigarette are terribly wrong. In fact, marijuana, over a long debate has been proven that it does gives respiratory problems similar to a cigarette. Not only does it give respiratory problems, but also brain damage, memory losses, and much more. In addition, marijuana is popular amongst young teenager who are either being cool or peer pressure. Marijuana is bad in every aspect, but people addicted to marijuana tries to justify that it is safe for their own convenience. People, who is addicted marijuana, will do anything to make marijuana look innocent. But in truth, marijuana is not safe at all. Marijuana is in fact proven to decrease his or her safety during work according to the “Behind the Smoke Screen” in drug free world. In fact, a study of about 129 college students found that smoking marijuana damages his or her memory and awareness. Because of this loss of memory and awareness, the rate of accident jumps up to 55%. In addition, studies found that 85% more injuries is reported during work and 75% more absents is reported for work. Moreover, in Australia, 4.3% fatalities are due to cannabis intoxication. Marijuana indeed decreases one’s...
Words: 464 - Pages: 2
...the high pressure coming from life and business. Yes, it can actually help you forget the struggling and difficulties for a while. But do you know how unhealthy it is? Do you know how many people die because of smoking every year? To be honest, the negative side of smoking is way larger than the positive. Smoking always comes with the disease which affecting heart, lungs, and liver. so stop smoking, compare with the harm of it, the transitory happiness that cigarette brings to you is negligible....
Words: 667 - Pages: 3
...governments should do in regards to tobacco advertising. 1. Summarize the arguments in favor of the ban on tobacco advertising in India To begin with, the advocates of the ban argued that this action of government was nothing unconstitutional. The government, in fact, has the right to interfere since their main concern was their citizen well-being. They gave this example. We know that guns are bad, so every nation has banned the public advertisement against guns so why tobacco should has a special privilege? Secondly, they used statistic from World Health Organization (WHO). They pointed out that over 3 million were killed by consuming tobacco products in 1990 and the death rate increased to 4.023 million by 1998. A figure of 8.4 million deaths was expected to reach in 2020 and 10 million in 2030. Their third argument was their accusation toward tobacco industry. They mentioned that these tobacco industries were aiming to increase their consumer market growth by luring the children and adolescent to smoke. They supported their argument by using the case of Camel cigarettes. RJ Reynolds...
Words: 927 - Pages: 4
...the biggest health problems seen throughout the United States. It is estimated that cigarette smoking contributes to around 450,000 deaths every year and cost the U.S. $193 billion annually in direct medical expenses and lost productivity (Porter 2013). Cigarette smoking is an addictive habit and for the majority of smokers is very hard to quit, especially by themselves. It is difficult if one is a non-smoker to grasp and understand the dynamics of the addiction and successful quitting usually requires a significant amount of assistance and support. Nurse practitioners are there to provide professional assistance by helping patients take the appropriate steps and measures to ensure their success in smoking cessation. Difficulty of Smoking Cessation In general, most people who smoke know smoking is bad for their health and can contribute to many other health problems and even death, so why can’t they just quit? If it were that easy there would be significantly less smokers in this country. The problem is not the desire to quit but rather the actual act of stoping smoking for good. The fact of reality is there are plenty of smokers out there who want to quit but just can’t due to the complexity and addictive nature of the habit. The three main components of tobacco smoke include; tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine (McEwen 2014). Most of the health issues that arise from smoking cigarettes are directly linked to tar and carbon monoxide components. Cancers, chronic obstructive...
Words: 2183 - Pages: 9
...working many years. Just two weeks before they had their twins, prematurely, her husband got fired from his job. She had no choice but to apply for assistance for the sake of the children. The qualifications for getting assistance for children on the WIC program are based off of your household income and the amount of people in your household. Cunha states that “It’s not just a phone call and done,” it entails a lot more paperwork than that. There are lots of women who need to use the WIC program because their work doesn’t pay enough salary pay when they go on maternity leave for a couple months at a time to be with the baby. Honestly until I found this article I used to believe that we should drug test recipients but after reading the statistics in this article I do believe it is a waste of taxpayers’ money to do the drug tests. We would be paying more in testing than we would be saving. Dowell, D., & Farley, T. (2014, September). Preventing Childhood Obesity. American Journal of Public Health, 104(9),...
Words: 1859 - Pages: 8
...consumption is recognised as the UK’s single greatest cause of preventable illness and early death with more than 114,000 people dying each year from smoking-related diseases including cancers (Canceresearchuk.org). Smoking also causes a substantial amount of cost to the NHS (National Health Service) every year. Rather than on health on an individual, public health focuses on health and disease in populations or communities as a whole (Ewles, Simnett 2003). Although there has been a decline of smoking, which could be due to a number of things, for example the smoking ban placed in the United Kingdom, smoking still sets high figures of deaths around the world. Around 90% of lung cancer cases are caused by tobacco smoking and, in addition, the 2002 IARC Working Group stated that tobacco smoking can also cause cancers of sites such as the stomach, pancreas, liver, lower urinary tract etc, (Cancerresearchuk.org). Smoking also costs the NHS £1.4 - £1.7 billion per year, (DOH, 2005). This in hand affects the role of the nurse, as smoking must always be evaluated when nursing a patient. The nurse’s role should help the patient venture into ways of learning to quit smoking and the reasons behind doing so. The nurse should focus on the negative issues concerning smoking. Mausner & Baum (1974) defines epidemiology as the study of the distribution and determinants of diseases and injuries in populations. The epidemiological approach began in the 1600s when a...
Words: 2282 - Pages: 10
...United States, cancer is the second leading cause of death, behind heart disease. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women in America. Advances in lung cancer screening and treatment have increased the survivability rate. Federal, state, and local public health offices continue to seek out new ways to combat this epidemic. Lung cancer occurs when cells in the lungs begin to grow out of control. There are two types of lung cancer classifications: non-small cell, which is the most common, and small cell. If left untreated, death is inevitable. In 2010, the American Cancer Society reported over 1.5 million new cases of cancer - of those new cases, 14.5% were for lung cancer (Cancer Trends Progress Report – 2011/2012 Update, 2012). In 2014, estimates show 224,210 new cases of lung cancer, a slight increase over the 2010 data. The prevalence of lung cancer has been consistently higher in men versus women, as well as higher in blacks and whites compared to other ethnic groups. Research has found lung cancer to be heavily linked to cigarette smoking, as well as exposure to other poisons, such as radon gas, asbestos, arsenic, and diesel exhaust (CDC, 2014). Unfortunately, lung cancer does not target only smokers. Every year, thousands of Americans are diagnoses with lung cancer due to second hand smoke exposure. According to the CDC, there are over 7,000 chemicals found in cigarette smoke, including over 70 poisons known to cause cancer (2014)...
Words: 904 - Pages: 4
...cause can be prevented. Prior to the 19th century, lung cancer was rare and considered idiopathic (Proctor 2011). However towards the end of the 19th century, as marketing popularized smoking, a lung cancer epidemic began (Proctor 2011). Due to the high lung cancer rates in the United States, there has been extensive research into the causes associated with lung cancer. The use of tobacco, mainly in the form of cigarette smoke, is the leading cause of lung cancer (Hecht 1999) There are two ways of being exposed to cigarette smoke: first hand (direct use), and second-hand (from use of those around you). Cotinine is the major metabolite of nicotine and can be used as a biomarker for exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (Benowitz 1996). Cotinine is an alkaloid that is found in tobacco. When an individual smokes tobacco and the chemical nicotine enters their body, cotinine enters as well. Cotinine levels in urine can provide an estimate to the length of exposure to smoke. There is a clear association between cotinine levels and the amount of time exposed to cigarette smoke (Thompson et al. 1990). When scientists determine what the cotinine levels mean they take into consideration type of exposure, first hand or second hand, and strength of exposure, how much a person smokes. EVIDENCE OF DIRET SMOKE – CITE MULTIPLE STUDIES (Svensson et al. 1998.) (Zang and Wynder 1996) It has been known for many years that smoking causes cancer. In one study the results showed the smoking was...
Words: 1856 - Pages: 8
...Jake Laino Laura Bruch 3/24/2013 Argumentative research paper Why Not Change the Drinking Age Back to 18? In the United States of America you are considered a legal adult at the age of 18 years old. You have all the major rights of a fully grown adult, voting, enlisting in the military, buying a house, buying tobacco products and many more. However there is one right that was taken away from the 18 year old adult back in 1984. In 1984 the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was put into place which changed the legal minimum drinking age from 18 years old to 21. Does this law mean that you are not really a mature adult until you are 21 or should the drinking age be brought back down to 18 when you receive all the other rights of a mature adult. It makes perfect sense that this right should be returned to young adults for plenty of reasons and also holds potential solutions to one of the nation’s biggest alcohol related problems. What does it mean to be an adult? United States law states that you are legally considered an adult at the age of 18. It makes sense right? You can buy a house, enlist in the U.S. military, get married and loads of other rights you don’t have until the age of 18. But United States law also states that all states must enforce a legal minimum drinking age of 21. We are the only major nation to have such a high drinking age. The drinking age wasn’t always this high though. On July 17th 1984 the national minimum drinking age act was passed which meant...
Words: 2220 - Pages: 9
...millions of people vow to finally kick the cigarette habit only to watch their optimistic expectations to give up in smoke. But if they've tried and failed with conventional smoking cessation approaches wether it’s the use of nicotine gum,counseling, or behavior modification they often look outside the mainstream motivated by the hope that alternative medicine might finally deliver them from a life cluttered with cigarette packs and tarnished by nicotine-stained teeth. Background of the Study Smoking remains a pediatric epidemic with so many adolescents stubbornly refusing to quit. This epidemic is predicted to kill 250 million children and adolescents who are alive today, a third of whom live in developing countries.Tobacco is addictive, carcinogenic and deadly. Analysis has shown that a tobacco leaf contains about 1,000 chemical substances. The smoke carries more than 4,000 chemically different compounds, mostly harmful to man. Tobacco is known or probable cause of some 25 different diseases for lung cancer, bronchitis and Emphysema it is a major cause. According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that there are 1.1 billion smokers in the world at the beginning of this decade and it is one-third of world’s adult population. Four million people died yearly from tobacco related diseases throughout the world. WHO estimates that the figure will rise to 10million by the year 2030 that’s one death every three seconds. Help is available through...
Words: 2201 - Pages: 9
...Why Smoking Cigarettes Should Be Considered a Drug Mathew Wright ECPI University Why Smoking Should Be Considered a Drug Smoking cigarettes was once viewed as fashionable throughout the majority of the last century. Smoking was glamorized with beautiful woman though history. The most iconic is Marilyn Monroe. Others such as the Marlboro man who was a handsome cowboy on his steed, and I still haven’t forgotten the smooth stylish camel that could bring the cool to any party. Those times are long behind us now as we have become aware of the significant risks in smoking cigarettes. With nearly twenty percent of the United States’ population currently smoking, it is clear that this recreational habit has become an epidemic (American Cancer Society, 2011). However, I believe that even with mandated health risks printed on packages, countless numbers of anti-smoking ads on billboards, and the spamming of our television sets since 1998, individuals still refuse to kick the habit. With cigarettes being extremely addictive and the majority of smokers are not considerate to others, I believe cigarettes should be considered a drug. I hope discussing these three negative effects of cigarette smoking will help to re-evaluate a person’s stance on this completely legal drug; realizing that smoking is a bad decision for everyone. Besides the obvious possibility of death, one should be concerned with the likelihood of lung cancer, a diminished physical appearance, and the inadvertent...
Words: 1838 - Pages: 8
...resistant. However there are some positive trends that have developed. Within the next few years about 30,000 young HIV patients are slated to receive therapy. Drug use is not as prevalent as it was several years ago and increases in drug addiction have ended. The health of Russian conscripts is improving as well compared with the last several years. Introduction 1. Alcoholism and alcohol poisoning deaths are a real problem Russian society faces. 2. Cases of HIV/AIDS are on the rise in Russia and society is uninformed about the illness. 3. Cardiovascular disease accounts for over half of the deaths in Russia, but financing for treatment of the disease remains insufficient. 4. Russia is the top smoking country and the statistics show startling...
Words: 1442 - Pages: 6
...survey conducted in 2007 indicated that 34% of men and 23% of women smoked on a daily basis. Tobacco-smoking has been a persistent and serious social problem for many years. (1) Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the world today, killing as many as half the people who smoke tobacco. Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), conducted in Poland in 2009-2010, was a nationally representative household survey (2). This was conducted by men and women aged 15 and older regarding tobacco consumption. The reasoning behind the survey was to produce internationally comparable data on tobacco use and tobacco control measure through a standardized questionnaire. (2) Tobacco Consumption The dramatic social, economic, and political changes after the fall of communism exacerbated Poland’s addiction to tobacco. In 1989 Poland had the highest cigarette consumption in the world. In the late 1970’s the average Pole smoked more than 3,500 cigarettes each year. (1,2) Nearly three...
Words: 3770 - Pages: 16
...Chapter I I. INTRODUCTION Many people nowadays smoke cigarette even teenagers smoke. Some people have no idea about the chemical of a tobacco and what it can cause to a human body. This paper is intended to give the readers an idea of the factors that trigger cigarette smoking amongst young generation of today, effects of cigarette, like cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. By reading this paper, a person can gain knowledge about the effects of smoking cigarette. So when a person reads this especially those who smoke, he or she may quit or lessen smoking because he or she will know the bad effects of cigarette smoking. It is considered that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death, leading to an annual five million deaths around the globe. It is estimated that if current smoking patterns carry on, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030. Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for many cancers and respiratory diseases. The heavier the usage of an individual and the longer he smokes, the higher the risks for smoking-related illnesses. Cigarette smoking involves inhaling smoke into the lungs. A cigarette contains more than 4000 poisonous chemicals such as nicotine, arsenic, methane, ammonia, cadmium, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, butane, and hydrogen cyanide. Inhaled cigarette smoke can damage the lungs' cilia, tiny hair-like structures that sweep away debris from the lungs. With the cilia paralyzed...
Words: 6190 - Pages: 25
