Is Chewing Tobacco Worse for You than Smoking

Smoking Tobacco: The Health Risks

Smoking tobacco is widely known to contribute to health risks, many of which can be fatal. Risks arising from smoking tobacco are:

• Absorption of dangerous toxins - when smoked tobacco releases approximately 400 toxins into the blood stream.
• Production of tar – the tar produced from a lit cigarette is a carcinogen and known to create a high risk of cancer to those who smoke.
• Nicotine addiction – smoking cigarettes creates an unavoidable addiction for the user making it increasingly difficult to give up, the longer cigarettes are used.
• Cholesterol effects – Nicotine is also known to have detrimental effects on the bodies cholesterol levels and over time a raise in cholesterol significantly contributes to heart disease. In the smoker, even after giving up, the effects can take years to return to normal if at all possible.
• Carbon Monoxide – the presence of carbon monoxide in the cigarette tar causes an effect on the oxygen supply in the blood stream.
• Cancer – those who smoke are particularly susceptible to: Mouth/throat cancer and lung cancer along with many other cancers directly linked to smokers.
• Chronic Lung Disease – Long term smoking is known to cause chronic lung conditions such as ‘chronic obstructive airway disease’ (COPD), otherwise known as ‘emphysema’. This lung damage is irreversible, and not necessarily associated with smokers in their senior years. For those with existing lung problem such as asthma and bronchitis, smoking causes exacerbations of symptoms and gives rise to frequent coughs and chest infections.
• Dental and oral damage – The nicotine from smoking stains the teeth and gums.
• Skin damage – due to the poor blood supply particularly to small blood capillaries, smoking can cause irreparable harm to the skin and complexion.
• Fertility problems – those trying to conceive may be at risk of problems if one or either of the couple is a tobacco smoker.

The above list certainly illustrates a comprehensive list of reasons why tobacco smoking is harmful to health, and indeed life.

Chewing Tobacco: The Health Risks

The use of chewing tobacco is wide spread, and often wrongly used as a perceived ‘healthier alternative’ to smoking tobacco, below is a list of the well documented harmful effects of chewing tobacco:

• Addiction – as with smoking tobacco there is a major factor relating to addiction. Becoming addicted to the nicotine component is unavoidable and for those trying to abstain, this poses major problems.
• Dental harm – because of the direct contact of the chewing tobacco on the mouth and teeth the effects of the nicotine over time lead to gum disease. Chewing tobacco contains a high sugar content and as with eating too many sweets tooth decay is a huge problem with prolonged use.
• Heart problems – the use of chewing tobacco contributes to raised blood pressure and heart rate. Raised blood cholesterol is another known hazard.
• Precancerous mouth sores – with prolonged use of chewing tobacco comes the likelihood of ‘leukoplakia’ which are small white patches on the inside of the oral cavity. These areas are believed precancerous with a likelihood of developing into true cancer over time. Oral cancer can be extensive in those who use chewing tobacco and facial disfigurement can be a secondary issue following necessary surgery to remove cancers that are present.

Chewing Tobacco Tin

Is Chewing Tobacco Worse for You than Smoking: The Verdict

On the surface when you compare the two lists above which detail the harmful effects of both smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco, it may well appear that due to the length of the list, smoking tobacco is in fact more harmful than chewing it. This is a poor judgement to make.

The question, Is chewing tobacco worse for you than smoking?, is one that many doctors and health care providers face when they begin helping the addicted individual on the road to giving up. If you examine both lists there is mention of potentially fatal effects on both, therefore a simple answer is provided. Where any addiction causes symptoms which could potentially lead to early death due to cancer, heart or lung damage, or substantial impairment of health and quality of life as both tobacco uses do, then there is no need to make a comparison.

The verdict therefore concludes that both smoking and chewing tobacco have equally detrimental effects on health and life. Both are equally addictive and require the same willpower and input to achieve abstinence.

Take a Look at the Helpful Websites Listed Below:

• Smoking Myths
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Spit Tobacco: A Guide for Quitting
• Helping a Friend Quit