TOBACCO A SILENT KILLER

Tobacco is a product prepared from the leaves of the tobacco plant by curing them. Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke in various forms. The practice was believed to begin as early as 5000-3000 BC .

German scientists identified a link between smoking and lung cancer in the late 1920s, leading to the first anti-smoking campaign in modern history.

Smoking is the most common method of consuming tobacco, and tobacco is the most common substance smoked. The agricultural product is often mixed with additives and then combusted. The resulting smoke is then inhaled. There are different varieties of tobacco. It is either smoked in the form of cigarettes or bidis, or chewed or inhaled as naswar or snuff.

Tobacco is very harmful to our body and it causes many forms of diseases in the consumer. Chronic Smoking leads to decrease in resistance in the body so that common afflictions such as flu and cold are easily contracted by the consumer of tobacco. Sense of taste and smell is also It in chronic smokers. This leads to loss of appetite and poor nutrition leads to many debilitating diseases. Smoking causes fatal diseases such as lung cancer and cancer of the mouth and hence it is a killer in the long run. It shortens the Aft span of the consumer. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of cancers of the lungs, larynx , mouth, throat, and oesophagus. It also leads to development of leukemias.

Tobacco smoke decreases female fertility and increases the incidence of miscarriage, premature birth,stillbirth, infant death, and also causes It birth - weight in infants. Passive smoking is also very injurious to health.

Tobacco smoke contains carcinogens which results in development of cancer in the individual. It also contains ammonia and carbon monoxide which harms the lungs and causes black smoky deposits

in the air sacs of the lungs, thus decreasing the capacity of the lungs to oxygenate the blood resulting in chronic asphyxiation or suffocation. The two types of smokeless tobacco are snuff and chewing tobacco. Snuff, a finely ground powdered tobacco, is inhaled in the nostrils and it causes sneezing. Chewing tobacco is also available. It is placed between the cheek and gum.Chewed tobacco causes Cancer of various types. Heart Attacks, strokes and High Blood Pressure are result of tobacco consumption. All tobacco, including smokeless tobacco, contains nicotine, which is addictive. People chewing tobacco in betel leaf are over five times more likely to be at risk of cancer of the mouth. The betel nut itself is a known carcinogen. This can cause blindness in both the eyes. Stomach Problems such as Ulcers, stomach upset, increased bowel activity and stomach cancer are a result of tobacco chewing. It also causes Loss of Taste and Smell and loss of appetite and the resultant poor nutrition with the various disorders due to malnutrition.

Tobacco, whether consumed in a smokeless form, snuff, or chewing form is a killer and is better avoided by everyone.