The happy 1920s helped to present smoking as a pleasurable habit. This idea began to change in the 1970s, when nicotine began to be considered a drug. However, it was not until 1987 that the term smoking was coined to refer to an addiction that is seriously harmful to health. The World Health Organization (WHO) took five more years to define it.
A person is considered to be dependent on nicotine when he or she smokes ten or more cigarettes a day. Fifty percent of smokers between 20 and 30 years of age suffer from nicotine dependence, and from that age onwards the figure rises to 90%.
As of today, the WHO estimates that some 5 million people die annually from causes directly related to tobacco consumption. This figure represents 1 out of every 2 deaths in middle-aged people. Smoking causes more deaths than the consumption of alcohol and other drugs, traffic accidents, homicides and AIDS. Moreover, it is predicted that by 2030 the death toll could reach 10 million.
Adverse effects of tobacco on the body
Smoking is linked to 25 major categories of health conditions, including cancer, ischemic heart disease and chronic respiratory diseases. It does not always trigger fatal diseases, but it is closely related to some disorders that have a negative impact on quality of life, such as anxiety, depression and alcoholism. We can point out that 60% of depressive patients are smokers, as well as 9 out of 10 schizophrenia sufferers.
Nicotine has a negative effect on the cardiovascular system, the nervous system, the digestive system and metabolism. The tobacco leaf contains more than 600 components, which can be divided into two. On the one hand, water, and on the other, dry matter. This matter contains organic components such as proteins, ammonia, alkaloids and carbohydrates, and inorganic components such as lead and nickel. When smoked, due to the combustion processes, the cigar reaches temperatures of over 800ºC at the tip and 400ºC in the carbonization zone, from where it gradually decreases. For this reason, it has been established that the first third of the cigarette is a zone of low toxicity, which increases until it reaches its maximum in the third third third.