Ignoring Tobacco
December 19, 2016
Some teens like to venture out and try things through their years. The most common thing for teens to try is tobacco products such as cigarettes, chew, and snuff. It’s more common for males to try chewing tobacco while it’s more likely females will smoke. While some teens may try to ignore the serious effect of tobacco, or the nicotine in the product, they can still be greatly affected. While most probably won’t realize they’re being affected by the short term effects, later in life, it will become more evident.
Most teens know that trying these products is a risk due to the their addictive qualities. What teens don’t know is that if they try tobacco products, they could be setting themselves up for a whole life of issues. If a curious teenager does not know all of their allergies, they could go into an anaphylactic shock and not be able to get help. Even trying tobacco products once can increase the risk of cancer. While teens may think “Oh I’m going to be fine. Trying it one time isn’t going to give me lung cancer or oral cancer,” they could be fatally wrong. They could already be a person at high risk and not even know it, and trying these carcinogen filled products could make their risk even higher.
Some short term effects can be irritability, increased heart rate, and narrowed arteries. While irritability may not be a big deal, an increased heart rate and the narrowing of arteries is. With an increased heart rate, people may become more susceptible to heart attacks. The long term effects can be much more serious items to consider. These may include chronic lung disease, increased risk of stroke, as well as cancer in the lungs, larynx, esophagus, mouth and bladder.
It’s normal for teenagers to do risky things or experiment with new ideas, but they should think twice before trying anything at all. While smoking may make you think you look older or cool, it’s not worth all the health risks that may follow its use.