Effect of Smoking on Breathing, Gas Exchange & Pregnancy Essay Example

monoxide Instead of oxygen carbon monoxide, this means that the cells in the body of a smoker will not receive as much oxygen as those of a non-smoker and they may become short of breath as their lungs are forced to work harder to compensate for this. Once the hemoglobin in a red blood cell has reacted with carbon monoxide it will never be able to react with oxygen and so it is of no use for its intended purpose.

This means that a smoker will have fewer red blood cells that are able to carry oxygen than a non-smoker. Disease a) Chronic Bronchitis Smoking is the most common cause of chronic bronchitis. It stimulates the production of mucus in the lining of the bronchi and thickens the bronchi's walls and those of the bronchioles resulting in the narrowing of these air passages. This means that less air is able to reach the lungs and heavy mucus or phlegm is coughed up.

These passages then become more susceptible to infections, causing further damage. B) Emphysema Emphysema is also largely caused by smoking and is often accompanied by rhinitis.

It is a disease in which the alveoli become damaged. Often this is because of the harmful chemicals present in cigarette smoke that pass through the walls of the alveoli when it is inhaled. The alveoli over-inflate and eventually burst and blend to form fewer larger air sacs, reducing the surface area over which gas exchange can take place.

This significantly impairs oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange and the sufferer will have to breathe faster and heavier to compensate for this.

Over the [ears the lungs also

become less elastic as the tissue is destroyed due to chemical imbalance and this reduces their efficiency. Z) Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease This is a term given collectively to many diseases of the lung including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. D) Lung Cancer Lung cancer is often caused when the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke cause cells in the lung to mutate.

These cells then multiply and spread, often forming a tumor, which can grow big enough to block the respiratory tubes and therefore prevent oxygen from reaching the lungs. Human Fertility Studies have shown that women who smoke are likely to take longer to conceive than Omen who don't. In men, smoking can impair sperm production and sometimes this Nil reduce the chances of a couple having a boy, as the Y-chromosomes in the sperm are more vulnerable to the toxins of cigarette smoke.

Affects on the Fetus En a woman is pregnant, she provides for the baby through her own body and Nat she takes into her body will also reach the baby. This means that when a pregnant woman smokes, many of the toxins that are affecting her body are also affecting the fetus. Like the mother, the fetus will have decreased oxygen levels and increased nicotine and carbon monoxide levels, which will get into the placenta ND prevent the fetus from receiving the vital food and oxygen needed for it to grow.

For this reason, babies born to mothers who are smokers are often underweight, resulting in many health problems. Women who smoke are also more likely to miscarry A Child Whose Mother Smoked During Pregnancy Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy

are more likely to suffer respiratory illnesses including asthma. Smoking during pregnancy has also shown to affect the child's growth and intellectual ability; it will sometimes even affect the child's reproductive organs and cause them fertility problems in later life.