Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. It harms nearly every organ in the body.

Types of Tobacco:

• Cigarettes
• Cigars
• E-cigarettes
• Smokeless tobacco, such as dip

Health Risks

Short-Term:

• Coughing
• Increased blood pressure
• Increased heart rate
• Decreased appetite
• Headache

Long-Term:

• Cancer
  • Most commonly lung cancer, but can also cause these types of cancers:
    • Bladder
    • Blood
    • Cervix
    • Colon and rectum
    • Esophagus
    • Kidney and ureter
    • Larynx
    • Oropharynx
    • Liver
    • Pancreas
    • Stomach
    • Trachea and bronchus
• Heart disease
• COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
• Complications in pregnancy
  • Smoking increases risk for:
    • Preterm (early) delivery
    • Stillbirth (death of the baby before birth)
    • Low birth weight
    • Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
    • Ectopic pregnancy
    • Orofacial clefts in infants
• Stroke
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Oral health (tooth loss, gum disease, cavities)

Cigarette smoke can still harm you even if you are not the one smoking.

Secondhand Smoke: The combination of smoke from the burning end of a cigarette and the smoke breathed out by smokers. Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, of which hundreds are toxic and about 70 can cause cancer.

Health risks:

• Adults:
  • Coronary heart disease
  • Stroke
  • Lung cancer
    • Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or at work increase their risk of developing lung cancer by 20–30%.
• Children:
  • Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
  • Wheezing
  • Coughing
  • Bronchitis
  • Pneumonia

E-cigarettes and youth: Devices that do not burn or use tobacco leaves, but instead vaporize a solution. The user then inhales this solution. E-cigarettes can contain many harmful substances, including:

• Nicotine
• Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs
• Flavoring such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease
• Volatile organic compounds
• Cancer-causing chemicals
• Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead

E-cigarettes are called many different things, including:

• E-cigs
• E-hookahs
• Mods
• Vape pens
• Vapes
• Tank systems
• Juuls

Health Risks:

• Nicotine can harm the brain during adolescence because it is still developing until about age 25.
• Using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control.
• Using nicotine as a young teen can also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs.

Treatment Options

• Detox
• Medications
• Nicotine Replacement Therapies
• Behavioral Therapies

Resources

• AshLine: Phone Counseling and Medication
• http://ashline.org/
• 1-800-55-66-22