Question

Consumption of tobacco and its effects on human health

Answer 1

Tobacco is extracted from around 65 known species of the tobacco plant of which the one that is grown commercially and widely as a source of tobacco is Nicotiana tobaccum. Most of the tobacco from Northern India and Afghanistan comes from the species Nicotiana rustica. The growing use of tobacco is a cause of great concern around the world due to its serious effects on health.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like ischemic heart diseases, cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases are the leading causes of death globally and associated with tobacco use. Available data from WHO demonstrate that thirty-eight million people die each year from NCDs, of which nearly 85% of NCD deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.1
According to WHO statistics for 2010 in India, NCDs are estimated to account for 53% of all deaths. Of these deaths, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes are the most common causes of deaths in India.2 This huge burden of NCDs can be attributed to increasing use of tobacco. Tobacco is a major risk factor for a number of diseases affecting all age groups. WHO data shows that tobacco uses kill nearly six million people in a year. Around five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. One person dies every six seconds due to tobacco. Up to half of current users will eventually die of a tobacco-related disease.3
The situation is equally bad in India with estimated number of tobacco users being 274.9 million where 163.7 million users of only smokeless tobacco, 68.9 million only smokers and 42.3 million users of both smoking and smokeless tobacco as per Global Adult Tobacco Survey India (GATS). It means around 35% of adults (47.9% males and 20.3% females) in India use tobacco in some form or the other. Use of smokeless tobacco is more prevalent in India (21%).4
Composition of tobacco
Tobacco products contains around 5000 toxic substances.5 Most important and dangerous constituents are:
Nicotine
Carbon Monoxide
Tar

Answer 2

smoking or chewing tobacco or tobacco products have many harmful effects on the human body.it increases

1. the risk of lung and oral (mouth) cancer,
2. the blood pressure,
3. the risk of heart disease,
4. cough and irritation,
5. gastric and duodenal ulcers,
6. anxiety and irritability,
7. constricted blood vessels, and high cholesterol,
8. loss of appetite,
9. wrinkled skin,
10. blood clotting throughout the body.
11. even non-smokers sitting or standing close to active smokers suffer from the symptoms of smoking this is known as passive smoking..