Medical Aspect of Tobacco Smoke's Adverse Effects on Human Health

Abstract

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is an annual rate of 7 million deaths because of tobacco use, and this rate is expected to step up to 8 million deaths in 2030 by virtue of smoking-related health complications. Furthermore, it is pathetic to know that almost more than 23% of high school students use tobacco, which if continued at the current rate; about 5.6 million teenagers would be vulnerable to death as mentioned by the World Health Organization. On the other hand, smokers do not only harm themselves but also increase the incidence of pneumonia, asthma, and bronchitis for passive smokers, which by the way contribute to the development of lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, infant death syndrome and slow-growing lung cancer are prevalent in children with continuous exposure to second-hand smoke. These adverse effects emerge from the complex mixture of chemicals present in submicron-sized particles suspended in cigarette smoke like carbon monoxide, benzene, nitrogen oxides, and other gases. Thus, it seems that tobacco smoking has been spreading worldwide as an epidemic with devastating lethal disorders represented in diverse pulmonary, neurological, and cardiovascular-related diseases. Wherefore, this paper discusses the harmful effects of tobacco smoke on human health in accordance with the modern advanced genetic technologies used in exploratory investigations for the relation between smoking and the emergence of human diseases.