IMMEDIATE SMOKING EFFECTS Smoking tends to reduce the
appetite. There is also a dulling of taste and smell, and because of the tar
the breath tends to become odorous.
Because of the nicotine, smoking produces an immediate
feeling of stimulation which is followed by depression. The physical base for
this is clear enough: nicotine causes the adrenal glands to discharge epinephrine
(adrenaline), which stimulates the nervous system and other glands, producing
release of some sugar from the liver. The result is a kind of "kick"
and even some relief of fatigue-but this is followed by return of fatigue as
the nervous system becomes quickly depressed again. With smoking, the heart
rate increases. Occasionally, the heartbeat may become irregular, producing
chest pain. Blood pressure usually rises somewhat.
Smoking also tends to constrict smaller arteries, reducing
blood flow, and lowering skin temperature. Studies have revealed an average
drop of about 5°F in finger and toe temperatures after the smoking of one
cigarette. It is well known, of course, that excessive smoking causes cough,
bronchitis, all of which usually disappear when smoking is stopped. Physicians
have little trouble identifying a smoker by one look at the inflamed mucous
membranes of the nose and throat. The cilia lining the passages to the lungs
play an important protective rule.
The mucous membranes
in these passages secrete a sticky fluid which serves to trap dust and other
particles in inhaled air; and the cilia, through a continuous whip like motion,
carry the sticky fluid upward so it can be swallowed or expectorated. Thus the
lungs are kept clean. Cigarette smoking slows, then stops, ciliary action and,
if continued long enough, destroys the cilia. There have been studies with
carefully controlled populations-in boarding schools, for example, where
observations could be carried out over an extended period-showing that regular
smokers have nine times as high an incidence of severe respiratory infections
as do nonsmokers.
