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Smoking, drinking, cannabis and how it affects your body. By Rhiannon Frowde. Smoking. Smoking kills approximately 114,000 people in the UK each year.
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Smoking, drinking, cannabis and how it affects your body. By Rhiannon Frowde
Smoking • Smoking kills approximately 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. • Most people know that smoking can cause lung cancer, but it can also cause many other cancers and illnesses. • 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 • The damage caused by smoking is influenced by: • the number of cigarettes smoked • whether the cigarette has a filter • how the tobacco has been prepared. • Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death due to smoking.
Symptoms of smoking There are many symptoms when a person is smoking: • Discoloured Teeth • It is one of the most obvious signs of smoking since your teeth go slightly yellow, teeth whitening products help to decrease the discoloration but unless the person ceases to smoke it will be a constant problem. • Circles Under the Eyes • Smoking contributes to poor circulation, causing dark circles under the eyes that typically signify a lack of sleep. • Wrinkles • Smoking causes premature aging by promoting the development of wrinkles around the eyes and mouth; the causation of which is the squinting of the eyes and puckering of the mouth associated with inhaling from a cigarette. • Skin Pallor • Heavy smoking tends to cause smokers to develop a greyish cast to their skin. This is caused by depriving cells of much-needed oxygen. • Staining Of Skin • In addition to staining the teeth, heavy smokers also develop yellow stained fingers on the hand that they use while smoking, usually on the index and middle fingers. When someone begins to smoke the symptoms don’t appear suddenly, but appear over years. Cigarettes contain Nicotine, a substance which is extremely addictive and makes it hard to stop smoking after you have started.
Drinking • Contrary to what many people believe, alcohol is not a stimulant, it is a depressant. This is why drinking too much can lead to impaired judgement, slurring of the speech, violent behaviour and loss of short-term memory. • Either on its own or in conjunction with other factors, alcohol is estimated to be responsible for at least 33,000 deaths in the UK each year. • More than one in 25 adults are dependent on alcohol, and the UK has one of the highest rates of binge drinking in Europe. • The short term health risks of alcohol include: • Anxiety • Sexual difficulties such as impotence • Impaired judgement leading to accidents and injuries • Slowed breathing and heartbeat • Loss of consciousness • Suffocation through choking on your own vomit (aspiration) • Potentially fatal poisoning
Cannabis Cannabis was first believed to have originated from among the Himalayan Mountain region and refers to the genus of flowering plant. Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in Britain. Made from parts of the cannabis plant, it’s a naturally occurring drug. It is a mild sedative (often causing a chilled-out feeling or actual sleepiness) and it’s also a mild hallucinogen (meaning you may experience a state where you see objects and reality in a distorted way and may even hallucinate). The main active compound in cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). with other drugs, dependence on cannabis is influenced by a number of factors, including how long you’ve been using it, how much you use and whether you are just more prone to become dependent. You may find you have difficulty stopping regular use and you may experience psychological and physical withdrawals when you do stop. The withdrawals can include cravings for cannabis, irritability, mood changes, appetite disturbance, weight loss, difficulty sleeping and even sweating, shaking and diarrhoea in some people. If you've only been using for a short while there should be no problem stopping but with continued regular use of cannabis, this can become more difficult. You’re also at risk of getting addicted to nicotine if you smoke cannabis with tobacco.
Symptoms of Cannabis The effects vary from one person to the other for example: • Some people may feel chilled out, relaxed and happy, while others have one puff and feel sick. • Others get the giggles and may become talkative. • Hunger pangs are common and are known as 'getting the munchies'. • Users may become more aware of their senses or get a feeling of slowing of time, which are due to its hallucinogenic effects. • Stronger 'joints' (e.g. typically when skunk or sinsemilla is used) may have more powerful effects. Some users may moderate this effect by actually inhaling and using less strong cannabis; but others may find it becomes tempting to ‘binge smoke’ them. • The regular use of cannabis is known to be associated with an increase in the risk of developing psychotic illnesses including schizophrenia. If the recent increase in availability of stronger forms of cannabis does lead to an increase in total use by some people, this might also lead to an increase in their future risk of developing mental health problems.
