Unit Ten Smoking Kills

Unit Ten Smoking Kills The training focus of this unit is the understanding of descriptions of some smoke- related illnesses and a number of other research results found in tobacco smoking. Since smoking remains one of the biggest killers of people's lives, it is of vital importance to educate youngsters to understand why they should not get into the bad habit of smoking -- both for the sake of their own health, and for the freedom and benefit of others. Ask the students to focus on WHY and HOW smoking kills. At the end of the class, the teacher may organize a summary session where all the students can pool and contribute the major points that they have learned and noted. Tape script: A: I once heard people talk about coronary heart disease. What is coronary? Could you tell me something about it? B: Well, our heart is a muscular organ. It's just like a pump. It pumps blood to every part of our body. There are two small arteries that bring blood carrying food and oxygen to the heart muscles. They are called the coronary arteries because they look like a "corona" or crown around the heart. If a branch of the coronary arteries is partly blocked, part of the heart muscles gets too little food and oxygen. There will be mild heart pain. A: Is it a heart attack? B: Not exactly. If a branch of the coronary arteries is completely blocked, part of the heart muscles stops getting food and oxygen. Then there will be severe heart pain or a heart attack. A: So in either case, the person is said to have coronary heart disease. Is it right? B: Yes. A: But what blocks the arteries? B: Arteries are usually blocked by a fat-like substance called cholesterol. When we eat too much fat or when we are overweight, cholesterol is deposited on the inner walls of our arteries. This build-up of cholesterol on the inner walls of arteries is called arteriosclerosis. A: I think no one wants this to happen to himself. B: So let us reduce our risk of getting a heart attack in adulthood by starting now to live a healthy life style -- eat wisely, exercise regularly, learn to relax and never, never smoke. A: Why never smoke? B: To make it simple, cigarette smoke makes the heart pump faster and allows less oxygen to reach the heart muscles.

Tape script: I -- Interviewer D -- David Simpson I: David Simpson, you're the director of Action on Smoking and Health. Why do you object to people smoking? D: Actually, that's not really the reason I'm in ASH. I do object to people smoking round me because they're breathing out 3 000 different chemicals into the air which I didn't actually choose to breathe in. But the reason I work for ASH is quite different; it's because smoking is by far the largest preventable cause of illness, premature death, and indeed disability. The risks of somebody smoking twenty cigarettes a day from their late teens for the rest of their life are that one in four of them will go to an early grave because of their smoking. I: If I smoke, it doesn't affect other people's health, does it? D: Yes, it does. Over the last few years, the evidence on passive smoking being a danger to normal healthy adults has grown enormously. Scientists are now in no doubt at all that regular exposure to other people's cigarette smoke is a danger to non-smokers. I: And the most vulnerable passive smokers are children? D: Yes, children have an additional risk, because when they're around their parents who smoke, or if their teachers, or others they're near smoke, then those children actually inhale the equivalent of about 150 cigarettes a year in cigarette fumes, cigarette particles and so forth. It has been shown for many years that those children suffer an increased rate of both chest disease and hospitalization through chest disease in Britain and America. I: Suppose you were at a dinner party, and people started smoking. Would you take a hard line on it? D: I do ask people at dinner parties not to smoke while I'm eating, but other than that, it's none of my business, if I'm invited into somebody's house, I have to play the rules by them. If I'm very offended by it, I just make my excuses and leave, but smoking is so rare now in the circles in which I minx that this isn't usually a problem. How about the future? Do you think that people will stop smoking altogether in your lifetime? D: Yes, I think by early in the next century, cigarette smoking certainly will be something that doesn't go on during the day. It's something that people may keep to do in the comfort and privacy of their own homes. I think they should have the freedom to do that, but I do want them to have the real freedom to do it, knowing what they are doing, potentially, to their bodies. That is the freedom to learn information without counter propaganda by the tobacco industry, without the cigarette products being wrapped up in beautifully designed glossy package and so forth. I'd be for that freedom, and I actually think that will exist. Tape script: I -- Interviewer D -- David Simpson I: So, David Simpson, you're the director of Action on Smoking and Health. Um, why do you object to people smoking? D: Well, actually, that's not really the reason I'm in ASH. Yes, I do object to people smoking round me in close confines, because they're breathing out 3 000 different chemicals into the air which I didn't actually choose to breathe in. But the reason I work for ASH is quite different; it's because smoking in this country, and I'm afraid to say, in the world as a whole now, is by far the largest preventable cause of illness, premature death, and_ indeed disability. The risks of somebody smoking twenty cigarettes a day from their late teens for the rest of their life are that one in four of them will meet an early grave, will go to an early grave because of their smoking. I: If I smoke, urn, it doesn't affect other people's health, though, does it? D: Yes, it does. Over the last few years, particularly in the last year, the evidence on passive smoking being a danger to normal healthy adults has grown enormously. Scientists are now in no doubt at all that regular exposure -- not the odd bit here or there, but regular exposure to other people's cigarette smoke -- is a danger to non-smokers. I: And the most vulnerable passive smokers are children? D: Yes, children have an additional risk, because when they're around their parents who smoke, er, parents are in the house and smoke the whole time, or if their teachers, or others they're near smoke, then those children actually inhale the equivalent of about 150 cigarettes a year in cigarette fumes, cigarette particles, gases, chemicals from cigarette smoke, and it has been shown for many years that those children suffer an increased rate of both chest disease and hospitalization through chest disease in Britain and America, where the studies have been carded out. I: Suppose you were at a dinner party, and people started smoking. Would you take a hard line on it, or ... D: Er, I do ask people at dinner parties not to smoke while I'm eating, but other than that, it's none of my business, if I'm invited into somebody's house, I have to sort of play the rules by them. If I'm very offended by it, I just make my excuses and leave, but again you see, smoking is so rare now in the circles in which I mix that this isn't usually a problem. I: How about the future? Do you think that, um, do you think that people will stop smoking altogether in your lifetime? D: Yes, I think by early in the next century, um, smoking, cigarette smoking certainly will be something that doesn't go on, by and large, during the day. It's something that people may keep to do in private at home, in the comfort and privacy of their own homes -- and, believe it or not, I think they should have the freedom to do that, but I do want them to have the real freedom to do it, knowing what they are doing, potentially, to their bodies, er that is the freedom to learn information without counter propaganda by the tobacco industry, without the cigarette products being wrapped up in beautifully designed glossy package and so forth. I'd be for that freedom, and I actually think that will exist and that, by and large, smoking will be something between consenting adults in private by the turn of the century.

Tape script: Most heart attacks are caused by a blockage of one of the coronary arteries by a blood clot. This cuts off the blood supply to part of the heart muscle, which then dies. The main symptom of a heart attack is a tight pain in the chest, which may spread to one or both shoulders and down the arms to the hands. Heart attacks vary greatly in their nature. They may occur suddenly with little or no warning, or they may develop gradually. The pain can vary from a slight feeling of discomfort to a very strong bursting feeling in the chest. It may last for up to an hour, or it may disappear after a few minutes and then return. A person suffering a heart attack is also likely to feel sick, dizzy and out of breath. Tape script: A heart attack is a serious matter and should be treated as an emergency. Don't try to travel to the doctor yourself, but stay with the patient and call an ambulance immediately. Keep the patient warm and as calm as possible. While you are waiting for help to arrive, lift the patient into a half- sitting position. Put pillows or cushions behind the patient's head and neck, bend the knees and loosen any tight clothing around the neck, chest and waist. Don't give anything to eat or drink, and don't leave the patient alone. If the patient becomes unconscious, try mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration, and at the same time press down on the patient's chest to force blood around the body. When the ambulance arrives, the patient will be taken straight to hospital, and will probably be kept there for several days. The patient's chances of recovery are very good: two out of every three people who have a heart attack recover completely, and nearly half a million people recover from heart attacks in Britain every year. Tape script: A new study shows that people who smoke large amounts of tobacco are speeding up normal damage to their arteries. It shows that the longer and more people smoke, the faster their arteries harden. And the study provides evidence that the effects may be permanent. The artery damage appears to continue at a faster rate even after people stop smoking. The study also shows that the harmful effect of other people's smoke called "environmental tobacco smoke" is much greater than thought. It appears to ~ the arteries of people who never smoke. The artery damage is called arteriosclerosis. Arteries are muscular tools. They carry, blood away from the heart. The arteries harden naturally as people get older. When arteries harden, their walls become thicker. Blood is unable to flow to other parts of the body. The condition leads to a sharply increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. The American Medical Association says arteriosclerosis is responsible for more deaths in the United States than any other condition. Doctors in Winston-Salem, North Carolina did the study. They examined the effects of smoking on the progress of arteriosclerosis. More than _1~ 000 adults took part in the study. They were from 45 to 65 years old. It was one of the largest studies ever done on the health effects of smoking tobacco. The journal of the American Medical Association published the results. The adults in the study were in four groups: current smokers, former smokers, non-smokers often affected by environmental tobacco smoke, or non-smokers not affected by tobacco smoke. At the beginning of the study the researchers measured the thickness of the walls of a major artery of each person. They measured the same artery three years later to discover the progress of arteriosclerosis. The researchers found that arteriosclerosis got worse ~ faster in current cigarette smokers compared with people who never smoked. The condition developed 25% faster in people who had smoked but stopped. The artery Walls thickened 20% faster in people who had often breathed environmental tobacco smoke than in those who had not. The researchers also found that the effects of smoking were greater among people with diabetes and high blood pressure. Researchers say that the effect of smoking on the progression of arteriosclerosis probably is linked to how much and how long people smoke. They believe that stopping smoking would ~low further damage to the arteries. Medical experts note that the importance of environmental tobacco smoke as a risk for heart disease has not been studied. Information about it was rarely collected. They say environmental tobacco smoke may be a reason why there is a history in some families of people developing heart disease while they are young. Critics of smoking say new measures are needed to help the public avoid tobacco smoke. The American Heart Association says the new study provides powerful support for a ban on smoking in all public places. Tape script: Announcer: A senior doctor with the Essex Regional Health Authority says those travelers' tax- free cigarette allowances should be scrapped. Dr. John Carport’s call coincides with Britain's ninth national no smoking day. He says if the government seriously intends to combat smoking, it should impose the ban on cheap cigarettes immediately. Dr Carforth: The tide is changing enormously with regard to smoking. Two out of three people now do not smoke in this country, and something like 70% of smokers actually try to give up smoking on at least one occasion. And about half of all smokers are really determined to kick the habit. So really something like this will actually help them to do it, because it would put the price up eventually, and it would make smoking that little bit harder to do. Tape script: Surgeon General Joysalyn Elders opened the news conference in Washington by standing in front of a large chart showing that smoking by high school seniors rose last year for the first time since annual surveys began in 1976. "Alarmingly, more than 30% of these seniors, and almost half of eighth graders do not believe that there is a great risk with smoking. Tobacco is addicting and tobacco kills." Dr. Elders said most adults who smoke began the habit before age 18. She said that adolescence can remain smoke flee until then few would ever use tobacco. She said an estimated three million adolescence in the United States now smoke cigarettes and a million use chewing tobacco or other smokeless tobacco products. She said health consequences quickly occur including severe respiratory ailments and retarded lung function. She implied that if they persist, these young smokers risk joining in the ranks of the 420 000 Americans who die each year from cancer or other diseases linked to smoking. Furthermore, she said tobacco appears to be a gateway drag, leading to subsequent use of alcohol, marijuana and other drags.