PUBLIC MARKS from kzoo with tags Tobacco & smoking

Smoking as a habit for many years becomes uncontrollable and makes people addicted. Even before realizing, people graduate to packs of cigarettes everyday and are unable to imagine living without inhaling tobacco.

While it is known that smoking damages peoples health, many believe that smokeless or chewing tobacco is not as bad. One does not have to smoke it, inhale bad particles or swallow the chemicals; however, it still affects the body in the same way as cigarettes.

We all know that smoking is bad for the heart. But what about inhaling second-hand smoke by non-smokers, especially children? A new study examining the effects of second-hand tobacco smoke on the health of toddlers and teens has revealed that the chronic exposure elevates the children’s risk of developing heart disease later in life.

Despite a vast educational campaign and serious governmental efforts to ban smoking in public places, the US statistics on tobacco addiction remains grim. It is estimated that more than 50 million American adults and teenagers still regularly smoke.

Long-term smoking is well-known as a serious risk factor in developing artery stiffness. However, according to a recent study reported at the Journal of the American Heart Association, smoking-induced arterial damage can be successfully treated by smoking cessation.

Although most of us are aware of the facts that smoking causes cancer and lung disease, heart attacks, and strokes, the impact of tobacco on oral health is generally less known. Yet, the use of tobacco in the forms of smoking and chewing is the primary cause of oral health decay.

While in the New World, especially in the Mayan civilization, tobacco was considered a sacred substance of the Gods, in Spain of the 17th century is was not welcomed at all. By Order of Pope Urban VIII, excommunication was a punishment for smoking or snuffing tobacco in any Christian church of Spain. Pope Innocent X banned using tobacco snuffs in the Basilica of St. Peter in 1650.