What About Cigarette Filters?

Cigarette smokers are at danger of more than nicotine when they smoke. Tobacco smoke contains many different chemicals including benzene, formaldehyde, styrene, and carbon monoxide, all toxic chemicals with known effects. Nicotine is broken down by the body to an even more addictive and long lasting substance � cotinine.

But what about the filters? The filters are usually made from cellulose acetate, and studies have shown that smokers commonly ingest and/or inhale some of these fibres. This happens because small fragments of cellulose acetate become separated from the filter at the end face. The cut surface of the filter of nearly all cigarettes has these fragments. This means that if you smoke a filter cigarette you are likely to have small fragments of plastic-like material in your tubes and lungs.

Don�t let this be an excuse to go back to smoking unfiltered cigarettes. Cigarette smoke damages your heart as well as your lungs. Carbon monoxide and nicotine are the two chemicals in cigarette smoke that probably have the most effect on the heart. Carbon monoxide attaches to red blood cells, so that in smokers up to half the blood can be carrying carbon monoxide rather than oxygen.

Nicotine stimulates the body to produce adrenaline which makes the heart beat faster and raises blood pressure, forcing the heart to work harder.

Other parts of the smoke appear to damage the lining of the coronary arteries and this leads to the build up of fatty material in the arteries.

Many smokers have switched to low tar cigarettes. It is the tar that causes cancer, but low tar cigarettes don't necessarily have less carbon monoxide and nicotine, so may be no less harmful for the heart. (This doesn't mean that you should go back to higher tar cigarettes, but it does mean that you can't believe that your health will be fine because you are smoking low tar cigarettes.)

My father's last words before he died of a heart attack were "I'm dying for a cigarette." He had no idea how true that was.

About the author:
Jane Thurnell-Read is an author and researcher on health, allergies and stress. She has written two books for the general public: "Allergy A to Z" and "Health Kinesiology. She also maintains a web site http://www.healthandgoodness.comwith tips, inspiration and information for everyone who wants to live a happier, healthier life.

Source: Article Directory

School Kids Learn To Say No To Smoking
(NC)�Research has shown time and time again that tobacco prevention programs are most effective if the prevention message is delivered, reinforced and revisited periodically over time. The Lung Association's Lungs Are For Life, a teacher delivered smoking prevention program does just that. It provides children from the age of four through to their teenage years with the skills they need to help them refuse tobacco and other harmful drugs.The newly revised program teaches students about the health and social consequences of smoking and motivates them to resist the pressures of using substances. The program is so easy to implement that according to one teacher, "you simply add water and stir." Teachers are provided with all the materials they need includ...

The Proper Way To Smoke A Cigar
Okay. So you've gone out and bought a couple cigars and decided that you wanted take up the popular pastime of cigar smoking. After all, this pastime has increased in popularity in recent years, spa...

Study Links Tobacco Smoke With Belly Fat
Exposure to cigarette smoke raises the risk among teens of metabolic syndrome, a disorder associated with excess belly fat that increases the chances of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, metabolic syndrome, according to a study. Researchers said it is the first study to establish such a link in teenagers. "The bottom line to me is: As we gear up to take on this epidemic of obesity, we cannot abandon protecting our children from secondhand smoke and smoking," said lead author Dr. Michael Weitzman, executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics Center for Child Health Research in Rochester, N.Y. For the study, ...

Smoking - The Role Of Nutrition In Martial Arts, Police, Military Personnel
Copyright 2005 Internet PublicationsFor a considerable amount of time, nutrition has not played a prominent role in the life of many martial artists, police, and military personnel as a means of improving performance. Top athletes are always looking for an edge. Although the martial arts are more of a way of life and a life style than a sport per se, the needs of the martial artist are the same as that of the elite athlete. Mental aspects not withstanding (i.e. mental awareness, strategy, cunning, etc.), the need for speed, agility, strength, flexibility, and the ability to recuperate from tough workouts (and unforgiving sparing partners) is paramount to the success of athletes and martial artists alike. Police and military personnel can also have unique requirements that require them to perform at peak physic...

Smoking - Snoring: A Common Sleep Disorder
Sleep consumes as much as one-third or more of the average human�s life. Even if people hope for restful sleep, many ...

Smoking - Thinking Outside The Box Concerning Congestive Heart Failure.
�Think outside the box!� These words show up in commercials, boardrooms, operating rooms and casual conversations. They have become the calling card of the young creative hotshot trying to secure an impressive position in a choice company. They mark the inventive thinker and condemn the one doing everything in the same old fashion. For the most part we live in a world where new is better and change in and of itself is considered a good thing.But there are some boxes in which our thinking seems to be locked. I have in mind one particular box which conforms us to the idea that health is a matter of fixing problems after they present themselves. There is no do...

Smoking - Free Program About Heart Health
(ARA) - When it comes to heart disease risk factors -- like high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure -- one plus one can equal three, five or even nine times higher risk! Adding risk factors can actually multiply your risk. You can�t change some risk factors, like your age or family history. But you can change others, like high cholesterol. That�s good news. Here�s more good news: The American Heart Association offers a free program ca...

Smoking - Who Said Bananas Are Not Good For You?
After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas: Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fibre, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading...

Smoking - The Elimination Of Heart Attack -- Is It Possible?
(ARA) - Heart disease is the largest killer of Americans -- more people in the United States die from diseases of the heart and blood vessels than all other diseases combined. Despite the fact that our country has the best heart hospitals and the finest cardiovascular specialists in the world, the heart attack rate here is not substantially different than the heart attack rate in any other country. The most common culprit in this deadly scenario is atherosclerosis -- premature plaque build up, which clogs the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle with vital oxygen and nutrients. Seventy percent of heart attacks take place in coronary blood vessels that are n...

Smoking - Omega-3 And Triglycerides: Could It Really Be That Simple?
We are wise to be wary of oversimplification. There is nothing that can cure everything. For example, if everyone on the face of the planet stopped smoking it would not wipe out the existence of lung disease. But I wonder how much lung disease would be wiped out if nobody smoked. My unscientific answer to that query is, �a whole heck of a lot.� Lung disease (as well as many other chronic c...