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Showing posts from September, 2008

Smoking and Its effects

Why quit smoking? Most people know that smoking can cause lung cancer , but it can also cause many other cancers and illnesses. Smoking kills around 114,000 people in the UK each year. Of these deaths, about 42,800 are from smoking-related cancers, 30,600 from cardiovascular disease and 29,100 die slowly from emphysema and other chronic lung diseases. How do cigarettes damage health? Cigarettes contain more than 4000 chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic substances. When you inhale, a cigarette burns at 700°C at the tip and around 60°C in the core. This heat breaks down the tobacco to produce various toxins. As a cigarette burns, the residues are concentrated towards the butt. The products that are most damaging are: tar , a carcinogen (substance that causes cancer) nicotine is addictive and increases cholesterol levels in your body carbon monoxide reduces oxygen in the body components of the gas and part