In the United States, an approximate of 25.1 million men and 20.9 million women are smokers. It is quite alarming to know that quite a huge chunk of the smoking population belongs to a younger age group. Almost twenty-seven percent of smokers are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four. A recent survey showed that almost twenty-three percent of high school students were current smokers, and that most of these high school smokers were White and Hispanic students.
Cigarettes A cigarette is made out of cured and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco combined with certain additives rolled and stuffed into a paper cylinder. The act of lighting a cigarette to make for the purpose of inhaling its smoke byproduct is called cigarette smoking.
Cigarette smoking and its effect Around four hundred forty thousand people die in the United States from any form of tobacco use. Nearly one out of five deaths is linked to smoking, it beats alcohol, car accidents, suicides, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs put together. But how does cigarette smoking kill?
An approximated four hundred chemicals are present in cigarette smoke, and most of them are toxic to the human body. Certain ingredients found in cigarettes may affect as much as the internal functioning of your body organs to the efficiency of your body's immune system. Continued cigarette smoking may cause a multitude of different medical complications, and at worse, the effects may be fatal. these include: lCancer. Cigarette smoking is responsible for at least thirty percent of all cancer deaths in the United States. It is the major cause for these forms of cancer: ?lungs ?larynx (or the voice box) ?oral cavity ?pharynx (or the throat) ?esophagus Cigarette smoking is also said to be a contributory factor in developing these forms of cancer: ?bladder ?pancreas ?liver ?uterus and cervix ?stomach ?colon ?rectum lHeart diseases. Cigarette smoke contains very fine particles that penetrate the alveolar wall into the blood and exert their effects on the heart in a short span of time. Among these heart diseases are: ?heart attack ?stroke lLung diseases. ?emphysema ?bronchitis lPregnancy complications. ?miscarriage ?early delivery (or premature delivery) ?still birth ?sudden infant death syndrome (or SIDS) ?low birth weight
In addition, smoking is not only harmful to your own body. In the long run, it will take its toll on the people surrounding you, through second hand smoke. So if you care about your own health and for others as well, don't get started with the habit. If you're a cigarette smoker, try and quit the habit. Your body will thank you for it.
Atorvastatin, marketed under the trade name Lipitor, is used for lowering cholesterol. Atorvastatin inhibits the enzyme located in hepatic tissue that produces mevalonate, a small molecule used in the synthesis of cholesterol. This lowers the amount of cholesterol produced which in turn lowers the total amount of LDL (low density) cholesterol. In 2005, Lipitor sales totaled $12.2 billion, making it the largest selling drug in the world at the time.
Atorvastatin is indicated as an adjunct to diet for the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia. In a clinical trial, after 2 years, a relative risk reduction of 16% in the primary end point rate (death, heart attack, unstable angina, coronary revascularization, or stroke) was seen in patients receiving intensive treatment with the drug. The benefit of intensive treatment was apparent, in some instances, within 30 days.
If you have high cholesterol, chances are your physician has already talked to you about Lipitor. Doctors like to prescribe it because it works quickly and easily. However, you need to understand the risk consequences associated with taking these sorts of drugs, because there is a potential for dangerous and sometimes permanent side effects. Some patients have suffered severe health consequences and were not adequately forewarned by their doctors.
Some of the more well known side effects associated with drugs known as statins (statins is the scientific classification for drugs such as Lipitor) include liver damage, sexual dysfunction, and peripheral neuropathy. But there have been other studies that have revealed other subtle problems that develop within the patient, which can have huge ramifications for the health of that patient later in life.
In a study performed by Finnish doctors, doctors assessed the effects of the statin drug Zocor on 120 men ages 35 to 64. All of the men had high cholesterol levels, ranging from 232 to 309. One group of men was told to maintain their current diet, while the other group was required to reduce their daily intake of saturated fat to less than 10 percent of total daily calories, and to keep their daily cholesterol consumption below 250 mg.
Then, each of the 2 groups was divided into 2 subgroups. One subgroup would take 20 mg of Zocor per day, while the other group received a placebo. This was continued for 12 weeks, at which point each subgroup switched so that the subgroup that had been receiving the placebo would receive the Zocor for the next 12 weeks, and vice versa. At the beginning of the clinical trial, and after the first 12 weeks, as well as at the end of the second 12 weeks, the cholesterol, blood pressure, insulin, and weight of each patient were measured.
The Zocor clearly worked, because it decreased cholesterol levels by 20.8 percent, while diet alone only decreased cholesterol by 7.6 percent. However, there was an astonishing finding. It was discovered that the drug increased fasting serum insulin levels by 13 percent, and decreased serum concentrations of important antioxidant vitamins by as much as 22 percent. This was a huge revelation.
Decreased insulin sensitivity can lead to a whole host of problems down the road, such as blindness, diabetes, and kidney disease. And antioxidants protect us from a whole host of problems, such as organic brain disease, cancer, and atherosclerosis. So, even though these cholesterol drugs perform a valuable function (lowering cholesterol), they can cause a whole range of other problems and diseases that can make a patient severely ill later in life.
So, you should think long and hard before using cholesterol-lowering drugs. The aforementioned side effects may not be equally severe in all people who take the medication. However, you might be better off working closely with your doctor to develop a program of diet and exercise before using drugs like Zocor or Lipitor to lower your cholesterol.
Both Abbey Grace Yap & Jim Pretin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Abbey Grace Yap has sinced written about articles on various topics from Accounting Guide, Advertising Guide and Medicine. The writer, Abbey Grace Yap, is an active advocate for health consciousness and disease awareness. She possesses a deep passion in discovering new health-related information and sharing it to her readersChoose Variety of High Quality Medicines at. Abbey Grace Yap's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.
Jim Pretin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Insurance, Medicine and Homeopathic Remedies. Jim Pretin is the owner of , a service that helps programmers make an HTML form. Jim Pretin's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.