1. TOBACCO

2. What’s in a Cigarette? More than 4,000 hazardous compounds. The most harmful: Tars: chemicals present in tobacco. Tars are well known carcinogens. Carcinogens: cancer causing agents.

3. The Respiratory System

4. THE LUNGS Healthy bronchi, the major breathing tubes leading to each lung. Bronchi are coated with mucus: a slippery secretion produced by the body that protects surfaces of linings. Bronchi are also lined with Cilia: hair like structures.

5. Smoke Damage to Lungs Tars in cigarettes make mucus abnormally thick. Slow the action of the cilia. Irritation builds making smoker cough “smokers cough” Each puff of a cigarette paralyzes cilia and numbs the throat for a while.

6. Bronchitis and Emphysema People who smoke ultimately get one or more chronic diseases of the lung. Bronchitis and Emphysema are both chronic diseases of the lung. Bronchitis: a respiratory disorder with irritation of the bronchi, thick mucus, harsh cough. Emphysema: disease of lungs in which many small flexible air sacs burst and form a few large, rigid air pockets.

7. Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease A term for several diseases that interfere with breathing Asthma, bronchitis and Emphysema are all examples.