AP - China has accelerated computer espionage attacks on the U.S. government, defense contractors and American businesses, a congressional advisory panel said Thursday.
The health effects of tobacco can be significant, depending on the way the tobacco is used (smoked, snuffed or chewed) and the amount. Major health effects of smoking, the most common use of tobacco, include an increased risk in lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization estimate that tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths in 2004 and 100 million deaths over the course of the 20th century. Similarly, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide." Rates of smoking have leveled off or declined in the developed world. Smoking rates in the United States have dropped by half from 1965 to 2006 falling from 42% to 20.8% in adults. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year.
Regular smokers are estimated to live to 2.5 to 10 years fewer than nonsmokers. About one-half of male smokers will die of illness due to smoking.
Tobacco related illnesses kill approximately 438,000 USA citizens per year, about 1,200 per day, making it the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. The World Health Organization has stated that tobacco is set to kill a billion people this century.
The main health risks in tobacco pertain to diseases of the cardiovascular system, in particular smoking being a major risk factor for a myocardial infarction (heart attack), diseases of the respiratory tract such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and emphysema, and cancer, particularly lung cancer and cancers of the larynx and mouth. It also increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer by 75%. Prior to World War I, lung cancer was considered to be a rare disease, which most physicians would never see during their career. With the postwar rise in popularity of cigarette smoking came a virtual epidemic of lung cancer.
Currently, among people who have ever smoked any kind of tobacco, almost one in ten will develop lung cancer. One in six men who continue to smoke tobacco will develop lung cancer. This compares to only one case of lung cancer in seventy-five lifelong non-smokers.
Incidence of impotence is approximately 85 percent higher in male smokers compared to non-smokers, and it is a key cause of erectile dysfunction (ED). Smoking causes impotence because it promotes arterial narrowing.
A person's increased risk of contracting disease is directly proportional to the length of time that a person continues to smoke as well as the amount smoked. However, if someone stops smoking, then these chances gradually decrease as the damage to their body is repaired.
Diseases linked to smoking tobacco cigarettes include:
Cigar and pipe smokers tend to inhale less smoke than cigarette smokers, so their risk of lung cancer is lower but is still several times higher than the risk for nonsmokers. Pipe and cigar smokers are also at risk for cancers of the oral cavity, larynx (voice box), or esophagus, a risk which was widely hypothesized before any link between smoking and cancer was scientifically proved as seen in the news coverage of the tobacco-related cancers of two American presidents; Ulysses S. Grant died in 1885 at age sixty-three after a long and painful public battle with throat cancer which was widely assumed at the time to be the result of his lifelong cigar habit, and Grover Cleveland was diagnosed in 1893 with cancer of the left jaw, which was frequently remarked upon by the press and public as the side where he usually had a cigar clamped. Similarly, cancer of the mouth and jaw is also a risk for chewing tobacco. The benefits of smoking cessation are immediate: blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature return to normal range; heart attack risk decreases; ability to smell and taste is enhanced; circulation improves.
It is generally assumed that the major motivational factor behind smoking is the nicotine it contains. However, the practice of ingesting the smoke from a smoldering leaf generates an enormous number of active chemical compounds, loosely lumped together as 'tar', many of which are biologically reactive and potential health dangers. (Chewing tobacco is also carcinogenic, likely because similar compounds are generated in the practice of curing it; the Nordic snus, which is steam cured and therefore does not generate these compounds, is much less carcinogenic.)
Smoke contains, in significant amounts, a large number of potent carcinogens, such as acrolein and benzopyrene. Carcinogenity is effected by alkylation (permanent attachment of foreign bodies) of nuclear DNA.
Long term exposure to other compounds in the smoke, such as carbon monoxide, cyanide, and other compounds that damage lung and arterial tissue, are believed to be responsible for cardiovascular damage and for loss of elasticity in the alveoli, leading to emphysema and COPD. The carcinogen acrolein and its derivatives also contribute to the chronic inflammation present in COPD.
Smoking also increases the chance of heart disease. Several ingredients of tobacco lead to the narrowing of blood vessels, increasing the likelihood of a blockage, and thus a heart attack or stroke. According to a study by an international team of researchers, people under 40 are five times more likely to have a heart attack if they smoke.
Perhaps the most serious oral condition that can arise from tobacco smoking is that of oral cancer. However, smoking also increases the risk for various other oral diseases, some almost completely exclusive to smokers. Roughly half of periodontitis cases are attributed to current or former smoking. Smokers experience widespread periodontal destruction and have significantly greater loss of bone height. Smokeless tobacco causes gingival recession and white mucosal lesions. Up to 90% of periodontitis patients who are not helped by common modes of treatment are smokers. Smoking has been proven to be an important factor in the staining of teeth. Halitosis is common among tobacco smokers. Other oral diseases that are known to have strong links to smoking are leukoplakia, Snuff Dipper's lesions and smoker's palate. In addition, many smokers report a loss of taste sensation and/or salivary changes.
Tooth loss has been shown to be 2 to 3 times higher in smokers than in non-smokers.
Smokers report a variety of physical and psychological effects from smoking tobacco. Those new to smoking will experience nausea, dizziness, and rapid heart beat. The unpleasant symptoms will eventually vanish over time, with repeated use, as the body builds a tolerance to the chemicals in the cigarettes, such as nicotine.
In many respects, nicotine acts on the nervous system in a similar way to caffeine. Some writings have stated that smoking can also increase mental concentration; one study documents a significantly better IQ on the normed Advanced Raven Progressive Matrices test after smoking. Most smokers say they enjoy smoking, which is part of the reason why many continue to do so even though they are aware of the health risks. Taste, smell, and visual enjoyment are also major contributions to the enjoyment of smoking, in addition to camaraderie with other smokers. Ironically, chronic exposure to tobacco smoke may inhibit one's sense of taste and smell, rendering him or her less able to enjoy these aspects of tobacco smoking.
Most smokers, when denied access to nicotine, exhibit symptoms such as irritability, jitteriness, dry mouth, and rapid heart beat. Longer abstinence may lead to insomnia and even mild depression. The onset of these symptoms is very fast, nicotine's half-life being only 1 hour. Withdrawal symptoms can appear even if the smoker's consumption is very limited or irregular, appearing after only 4-5 cigarettes in most adolescents. An ex-smoker's chemical dependence to nicotine will cease after approximately ten to twenty days, although the brain's number of nicotine receptors is permanently altered, and the psychological dependence may linger for months or even many years. Unlike some recreational drugs and alcohol, nicotine does not measurably alter a smoker's motor skills, cognition, judgement, or language abilities while under the influence
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US panel warns of Chinese espionage
(AP)
AP - China has accelerated computer espionage attacks on the U.S. government, defense contractors and American businesses, a congressional advisory panel said Thursday.
