There are over 7000 chemicals in commercial tobacco smoke. Some of these chemicals exist naturally, while others are created through combustion (burning the tobacco, e.g. smoking cigarettes). Cigarette companies also add chemicals to their products to mask the harsh flavour of smoke and make it easier to inhale smoothly. Cigarettes with additives are more palatable and easier to smoke, which can also make them more easily addictive. Many of these chemicals are toxic, such as tar and carbon monoxide, and at least 70 are cancer-causing.
Tobacco also contains nicotine, an additive chemical that changes the way your brain works. When you smoke a cigarette, nicotine travels to your brain within 7 seconds and causes the release of various chemicals that may affect your mood. Nicotine is a stimulant and can temporarily improve concentration and alertness, as well as induce a temporary feeling of relaxation.
Since nicotine changes how your brain works, it can actually affect brain development in youth and young adults, harming the parts of the brain responsible for memory and concentration. Over time, your brain gets used to receiving nicotine from cigarettes and starts to crave it, eventually making you dependent, meaning you need more and more nicotine to feel ‘good’. As soon as you stop smoking, and your nicotine levels drop, you go into withdrawal, and can experience various unpleasant symptoms such as irritability, restlessness, and difficulty concentrating. The only thing that will relieve these symptoms are either more nicotine, or time (quitting). This is what makes it so hard to quit.
You might need a few tries to quit for good, but you can learn something about yourself from every quit attempt, and we are always here to help!
Health Risks of Tobacco
Tobacco use harms nearly every part of the body.
Tobacco Products
Cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product, but there are also alternative forms of tobacco that carry similar risks to cigarettes as well as some distinct risks of their own.