SMOKING TO BETTER HEALTH

“SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy.” This warning is printed on every packet of cigarettes to remind people of the dangers of smoking. All throughout elementary and secondary education, teachers and health organizations are there to educate students on the dangers of smoking. The picture they paint is not a particularly flattering one, an exaggerated one at that. Smoking causes the body to turn yellow: first the teeth, then the fingers, and then finally the rest of the body will follow suite. As well, the body’s lungs will become tar and the body will be nothing more than a cindered corpse sitting in a wheel chair, breathing through an oxygen tank and talking through an electric box. These are all exaggerations to be sure, however, the fact remains that smoking has negative side effects and fatal consequences. With that said, a large portion of the population continues to smoke despite these warnings. Why would someone continue to use a drug which has no positive effects and would eventually kill a person after continual use?

The negative effects of smoking are prevalent to the point that the positive effects of smoking are seemingly nonexistent, boiling down to giving into peer-pressure or to win popularity contests. While these attribute to the number of smokers, non-smokers would be surprised to hear the positive effects of smoking. In 1994, Christopher Hitchens writes in an article for Vanity Fair, “Cigarettes improve my short-term concentration, aid my digestion, make me a finer writer and a better dinner companion, and in several other ways prolong my life.” Tobacco makes a smoker more alert, relaxed, concentrated, and gives a mild euphoria. Smokers engage in smoking as a means of self-therapy, attributing to staving off withdrawals according to anti-smoking organizations.

Three health analysts studied the effects of nicotine and tobacco on aspects of human performance, led by Stephen Heishman of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethea Kleykamp of Johns Hopkins University and Edward Singleton of Stevenson University. The study reviewed fifteen years of published effects of these drugs and studied both non-smokers and smokers alike. They found that cigarettes benefit motor skills, attention, and memory. The researchers explain, “The significant effects of nicotine on motor abilities, attention, and memory likely represent true performance enhancement because they are not confounded by withdrawal relief. The beneficial cognitive effects of nicotine have implications for initiation of smoking and maintenance of tobacco dependence.”

Smoking as well alleviates symptoms of mental illnesses according to an article in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews in 2005, which studies the smoking habits of schizophrenics who use their smoking as self-medication. “Nicotine found in cigarettes reduces psychiatric, cognitive, sensory, and physical effects of schizophrenia, and also provides relief of common side effects from antipsychotic drugs.” (Russo)

Studies as well indicate that non-smokers are more at risk of both Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease than smokers. Doctor Laura Fratiglioni of Huddinge University Hospital in Sweden states, "Cigarette smokers are 50% less likely to have Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease than are age and gender-matched nonsmokers... cigarette smoking exerts an undefined, biologic, neuroprotective influence against the development of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease." (Russo) Studies indicate a temporal relationship between smoking and reduced risk of Parkinson's disease and these effects ware off after smokers quit. Dr. Tanner's group continued to see significant differences when dose was calculated until 10 years or 20 years prior to diagnosis. They conclude that this finding refutes the suggestion that individuals who smoke more are less likely to have Parkinson's disease because those who develop symptoms quit smoking. The inverse association of smoking dose and Parkinson's disease can be attributed to environmental, and not genetic, causes with near certainty. (www.forces.org)

Nicotine as well acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and decreases the risk in ulceraltive colitis, a potentially severe digestive disorder, according to the University Hospital of Wales. These effects as well lower rates of allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, atopic eczema, and food allergies, according to a study in Sweden consisting of two generations of Swedish adults and children. (Russo) Studies even show that smoking prevents gum disease, something the anti-smoking groups have used as evidence against smoking. In some strange cases, smoking has either increased or had no effect at all on the lifetime expectancy of a smoker.

With all these benefits of smoking, it does not warrant for everyone to grab a packet of cigarettes and smoke to better health. The warnings and negative attributes of smoking tobacco are still prevalent. This is to recognize that there are both positive and negative effects to each drug and that everyone should exercise discretion when using such drugs. The anti-smoking ads, though well intent, are in their essence propaganda. As described before, the benefits of smoking seemed nonexistent and seemed as though these special interest groups wanted to keep them a secret. People should be well advised of both the positive and negative effects of not only cigarettes but other drugs and pharmaceuticals as well. To those researchers, more studies should be performed and widely accessible to the average citizen to learn more about the effects these drugs.

Works Cited

Heishman, Stephen J., Bethea A. Kleykamp, and Edward G. Singleton. "Meta-analysis of the acute effects of nicotine and smoking on human performance." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/. US National Library of Medicine National Institute, 24 Apr. 2010. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3151730/>.

Kumaria, Veena, and Peggy Postma. "Nicotine use in schizophrenia: The self medication hypotheses." http://web.as.uky.edu/. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2005. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://web.as.uky.edu/Biology/faculty/cooper/Bio401G/nicotineSchiz.pdf>.

Russo, Juniper. " Health Benefits of Smoking Cigarettes: Could Tobacco Be Good for You?." http://voices.yahoo.com/. N.p., 8 Dec. 2008. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://voices.yahoo.com/health-benefits-smoking-cigarettes-could-tobacco-2285571.html>.

http://www.forces.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. <http://www.forces.org/evidence/evid/therap.htm>