TEEN HEALTH

Teenagers seem to be more worldly and knowledgeable than ever before! But as they begin making more and more life decisions pertaining to their health, they may find they don't know nearly as much as they thought.

Smoking is one of the biggest health problems facing our country. Why is that? Peer pressure makes teenagers take up smoking every day. But are the health risks worth "looking cool"? When you consider that of those 3,000 about 1,000 will later die from a condition related to smoking.

If a child makes it to early adulthood without becoming a smoker, chances are he or she will never start. That's why it's so important for teenagers to realize that although they may feel immortal, the choices they make today can and will have serious consequences for their future well-being.

Cigarettes contain a chemical called nicotine. In its natural form, nicotine is colorless, ordorless oily liquid that turns brown when combined with oxygen. Have you ever wondered why a smoker's fingers are yellow? Now you know. When a cigarette is burned, the tobacco releases nicotine that is inhaled and absorbed through the lungs.

Nicotine is a powerful central nervous system stimulant that produces many effects. The chemical acts on the brain to produce an alert state. Nicotine stimulates the adrenal glands to produce adrenaline, a hormone that increases your metabolism rate and makes you more alert. Heart rate and respiration increase, blood vessels constrict and blood pressure increases. The heart has to work harder to pump blood through the narrowed blood vessels.

Smoking will also reduce the appetite by decreasing the contractions of the stomach that signal hunger. Beginning smokers may feel dizzy, lightheaded, or nauseated. They may even vomit and have diarrhea. These beginning reactions are signs of nicotine poisoning. The body quickly--almost immediately--develops a tolerance to the drug.

Smoking gives the user a strong dose of the drug nicotine, along with approximately 1,200 chemical substances. Some of the substances collect in the lungs to form a thick, brownish sludge called tar. Tar contains compounds that cause cancer.

Tobacco smoke also contains carbon monoxide which binds to hemoglobin in the red blood cell. Oxygen depravation is the reason that smokers get short-winded when exercising.

Pregnant women who smoke have a greater chance of having miscarriages or stillbirths or producing low-birth weight babies.

Breathing secondhand cigarette smoke has been shown scientifically to be a risk to non smokers. Nonsmokers who are continually exposed to cigarette smoke are three times more likely to die of lung cancer than nonsmokers who do not breathe smoke.

Quitting is difficult. Some people can be hooked by nicotine at the first puff! Those who quit have a chance of repairing the damage they have done to their bodies. Within the first twenty-four hours of quitting, the heart and lungs begin to heal themselves. Coughs go away in a few weeks.

Initial withdrawal may involve headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and extreme irritability. The craving may not completely disappear for several month or even years. But it can be done.

Indeed, it's time that schools and parents recognize that teenage smoking is a growing problem that need social attention and solutions.