[lou_lou]

http://members.tripod.com/medicolega...cchemicals.htm


partial info

For almost four hundred years, European and American physicians have observed the toxic effects of tobacco . . . . physicians have known for centuries that smokers were daily taking into their bodies large quantities of one of the most poisonous substances known to man," says Frank L. Wood, M.D., What You Should Know About Tobacco (Wichita, KS: The Wichita Publishing Co, 1944), p 67. See also E. Bertarelli, "Prevention of Smoking," 18 Pensiero Med 64-69 (15-28 Feb 1929); and E. Huber, "Tobacco Smoking in Ancient Times," 33 Umschau 711-714 (7 Sep 1929).

"Chemical analysis shows the tobacco leaf to contain an unusual number of constituents. Nicotine, nicotianine, and tobacco acid or malic acid are characteristic. Nitric, hydrochloric, sulphuric, phosphoric, citric, acetic, oxalic, pictic, and ulmic acids are also present. The quantity of mineral matter is large, amounting in some cases to 27 per cent."—Prof. John I. D. Hinds, Ph.D., The Use of Tobacco (Nashville, Tenn: Cumberland Presbyterian Publishing House, 1882), p 36.

So "all who persist in [smoking] must sooner or later, in some way or another, be affected by its poisonous influence."—Theodore Frech and Luther Higley, The Evils of Tobacco and Cigarettes (Butler, Indiana: The Higley Printing Co, 1916), p 19.

"No man who smokes daily can be said to be at any time in perfect health."—John Hinds, Ph.D., The Use of Tobacco, supra, p 100.

Tobacco's effect is "always to destroy life."—Rev. Orin S. Fowler, Disquisition on the Evils of Using Tobacco, and the Necessity of Immediate and Entire Reformation (Providence: S. R. Weeden, 1833), p 9. There is "certain injury," p 10, and are thousands of deaths, pp 20-21.

And, "no one can use tobacco without more or less injury. . . ."—John B. Wight, Tobacco: Its Use and Abuse (Columbia, SC: L. L. Pickett Pub Co, 1889), p 98.

Tobacco effects include "disturbances . . . on the bronchial surface of the lung" and the fact that "no smoker can ever be said . . . to be well."——"Effects of Tobacco," The Confederate States Medical & Surgical Journal (November 1864).

"'Every regular cigarette smoker is injured . . . Cigarette smoking kills some, makes others lung cripples, gives still others far more than their share of illness and loss of work days. Cigarette smoking is not a gamble; all regular cigarette smokers studied at autopsy show the effects.'" (Referenced, The FTC Report 1968, cited in A. A. White (Law Prof, Univ of Houston), "Strict Liability of Cigarette Manufacturers and assumption of Risk," 29 Louisiana Law Rev (#4) 589-625, at 607 n 85 (June 1969). Examples: lung cancer; and brain.

Carbon monoxide is known to have “no 'safe' level, no level below which adverse effects do not occur.” See Comment, “Legislation for Clean Air: An Indoor Front,” 82 Yale Law Journal 1040-1054, at 1045 (April 1973).

“The focus of the World Health Organization’s 2007 World No Tobacco Day is achieving 100% smoke-free environments, both in public places and workplaces.”—MMWR 25 May 2007 / Vol. 56 / No. 20.

“Although no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) exists, an international study determined that nearly half of never smokers aged 13–15 years were exposed to SHS at home (46.8%) or in places other than the home (47.8%). Never smokers exposed to SHS at home were 1.4 to 2.1 times more likely to be susceptible to initiating smoking than those not exposed, and students exposed to SHS in places other than the home were 1.3 to 1.8 times more likely to be susceptible.” Source: “Exposure to Secondhand Smoke Among Students Aged 13–15 Years Worldwide, 2000-2007”—MMWR 25 May 2007 / Vol. 56 / No. 20.

link
http://members.tripod.com/medicolega...cchemicals.htm

[lou_lou]

Depression and Brain Damage: 2 more reasons not to smoke

by Barry Bittman, MD

If you’re down and out and about to light up because you’re convinced smoking makes you feel better, think again.

Two new research studies have shown remarkable findings¾ nicotine not only has a depressive effect on the central nervous system, it also causes degeneration in a brain region that affects emotional control, sexual arousal, sleep and seizures.

If you’re a smoker, I know what you’re thinking. So hold back those 4-letter words for a moment and consider the following:

A breakthrough study reported in the October 2000 issue of the medical journal, Pediatrics, recently disclosed the true relationship between smoking and depression. A study from over 8,000 teens evaluated at Children’s Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati, Ohio has shed new light on the chicken/egg argument that depression leads to smoking or visa versa.

Of great importance is the fact that symptoms of depression in these teens did not lead to smoking as you might have guessed. Instead the tides turned as the research team led by Dr. Elizabeth Goodman showed that only 4.8% of nonsmoking teens developed depression after a study period of one year. In contrast, an astounding 12% of smoking teens developed depression in the same time period.

When asked why they began smoking, the surveyed teens offered reasons such as poor grades or friends’ use of tobacco.

If taken a step further, this data heralds severe mental health consequences for our nation. As stated in prior columns, the ACS (American Cancer Society) has projected that approximately 3,000 adolescents (not teens) begin smoking each day in our nation. Of these, the ACS contends that 1,000 will die of smoking-related health problems. Now add the consideration that 12% are likely to develop depression as well, and we can now estimate roughly 131,000 new cases of depression arising from just new adolescent smokers each year.

Realize the gravity of this situation by understanding I’m just considering adolescents in my analysis. Recent data also suggests 4,800 teens in our nation begin smoking each day.

And if the prospect of depression isn’t enough to get you to kick the habit or prevent it in the first place, it’s likely there’s far more at stake¾ your brain!

According to neuroscientist Gaylord Ellison of UCLA, “Nicotine causes the most selective degeneration to the brain I have ever seen.” Ellison and colleagues recently reported their findings in the November 2000 issue of Neuropharmacology. They showed that nicotine damages specific nerve cells in an area of the brain called the fasciculus retroflexus, a region particularly affected by chronic drug use. Ellison’s team also reported that nicotine specifically affects only one side of this region. The other side has been found to be selectively damaged by amphetamines, cocaine, Ecstasy and other addictive drugs.

Taken together the results of these two studies should be enough to eradicate tobacco use as perhaps the greatest lifestyle threat to the health for our nation. Yet the threat isn’t being taken seriously especially by our children who are in the contemplation stage. For them, the “I’ll just try it” attitude is more dangerous than ever imagined.

An astounding study published in the September 2000 issue of the British Medical Association journal, Tobacco Control, clearly reveals that full blown tobacco addiction can occur in just a few weeks.

According to study’s author Dr. Joseph DiFranza of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine, “We were surprised to find that the children were experiencing the same symptoms of nicotine addiction as adults who smoked heavily¾ even those kids who only smoked a few cigarettes a week.”

Referring to teen and adolescent smokers, Dr. DiFranza also stated, “These kids certainly need help with smoking cessation. It seems it's as difficult for an 11-year-old to quit a habit of two to three cigarettes a week as it is for an adult smoker who's smoking a pack a day.”

So if you’re even considering lighting up, reconsider a lifetime of dreams up in smoke. Imagine facing a life sentence of addiction, ongoing depression and brain cell loss before it’s too late. It’s time to take this matter seriously while you still have a chance.

America, this is a wake-up call to stop the nonsense!

There isn’t one good reason to expose anyone to the more than 4000 chemicals found in tobacco.

I’d like to ask teachers nationwide to advance this crusade by presenting and reviewing this particular column in every classroom. Discuss these findings and know you can inspire healthy lifestyle choices. Even if our collective efforts impact just a small proportion of our youth, imagine the suffering we can prevent by working together¾ Mind Over Matter!

copyright 1998,1999, 2000 Barry Bittman, MD all rights reserved

great website
http://scienceu.fsu.edu/content/toba...lth/brain.html

[lou_lou]

http://scienceu.fsu.edu/content/toba...lth/brain.html

"Heavy cigarette smokers thus appear to be true addicts, showing not only social habituation but . . . physiologic withdrawal effects. . . . concerns about the dangers of smoking, latent but readily mobilized in our population, are effectively masked by denial and related psychic defenses."
A classic symptom of "severe brain damage" was evident: "distorted time perception," e.g., "time moving slowly."

Thus, "our evidence at least is consistent with the existence of 'chronic intoxication' in the heavy smoker, which is harmful to the smoker himself."—Peter H. Knapp, Charles M. Bliss, Harriet Wells, "Addictive Aspects in Heavy Cigarette Smoking," 119 Am J Psychiatry 966-972 (April 1963). [More by Knapp; more on tobacco intoxication]