Smoking can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and tuberculosis (HHS, 2012). Tobacco smoke has also been found to amplify asthma symptoms in both children and adults. In addition, close to 90 percent of deaths from COPD can be attributed to cigarette smoking (CDC, 2014). Although people ofter only think of the medical consequences that can result from the direct use of tobacco, secondhand smoke can also increase a persons’s risk for developing many of the diseases mentioned above. In a research report, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2012) stated that “secondhand smoke is estimated to cause about 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year among nonsmokers and contributes to more than 35,000 deaths related to cardiovascular disease”. Secondhand smoke is clearly not a light subject and just like the direct use of tobacco, secondhand smoke is a preventable cause of …show more content…
Research has shown that the available treatments for tobacco abuse work. There are some people that can quit without any help, but many other people need assistance in the process. Quitting is very important for an individual because he or she can experience immediate health benefits such as a decrease in blood pressure and decreased chances for a heart attack. Other benefits of stopping tobacco use include decreased risk of all the diseases and caners mentioned earlier. Treatments for tobacco use include nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), pharmacological treatments, and behavioral interventions (NIH,