![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/files\/2012\/04\/smoking_1623447c.jpg\")
<\/a>Latoya Young<\/strong> Smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable morbidity and premature mortality in the United States and the world. Smoking-related diseases cause an estimated 440,000 American deaths each year.<\/p>\n Even though smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and affecting the health of smokers in general, not everyone views the habit in the same way.<\/p>\n Krystal Brown, a Jackson State University sophomore accounting major from Greenwood, Miss. said, \u201cI don\u2019t think smoking is bad because my grandma smoked all her life and never suffered any affects from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Simone Young, a sophomore mass communication major from Madison, Ala. said, \u201cI was taught from a young age not to smoke because of the bad affects it has on your health. I usually disapprove of people smoking in public. I feel like it is preventable because it can cause lung cancer and certain other diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n Shanice Clark, a freshman biology major from Jackson, Miss. said, \u201cI think smoking is bad because my dad died from lung cancer that was caused by second hand smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n According to QuitSmoking.com, smoking costs the United States over $150 billion annually in health care costs. A 2004 Study by the CDC\u2019s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion found that cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer.<\/p>\n The nicotine in cigarettes affects the nerve-muscle junctions, causing tremors and shaking. Nicotine causes narrowing and constriction of the arteries, adding to the heart\u2019s load. Nicotine, through its ability to stimulate, causes excitement and anxiety. But the effect wears off, often a period of depression follows, whereupon another cigarette is taken. Nicotine, an insecticide, makes the blood more viscous and decreases the available oxygen. It also adversely affects the breathing, sweating, intestinal, and heart actions of our autonomic nervous system, probably due to hindering the blood flow to the nerve centers in the brain.<\/p>\n Smoking causes widespread permanent destruction of the tiny air sacs (alveoli) and narrowing of small blood vessels in the lungs, decreasing the oxygen supply, requiring a higher blood pressure, thus causing extensive circulatory problems and premature heart attacks. Smokers have difficulty running and exercising.<\/p>\n Quitting smoking has immediate as well as long-term benefits for smokers and their loved ones. For\u00a0 information on quitting smoking, contact the JSU Student Health Center or the Act Center at 601-815-1180.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Latoya Young Blue & White Flash \/ Staff Writer Smoking has been identified as the most important source of preventable morbidity and premature mortality in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBlue & White Flash \/ Staff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n