Dangers & Risks of Smoking

The report contained few surprises, since the committee had conducted no new research. It merely reviewed existing data. Indeed, since the early twentieth century, physicians had cautioned people about the hazards of cigarette smoking (Brandt 156). However, by documenting what physicians had already known, the report changed people's attitudes about smoking forever.

At the time of the report, 42 percent of all U.S. adults smoked; in 1989, only 26 percent of the adult population smoked. According to the 1989 Surgeon General's Report, approximately 750,000 smoking-relating deaths have been avoided since 1964 because people quit or decided not to start smoking (Brandt 156).

However, despite the 1964 Surgeon General Report and subsequent reports, cigar

. . .
may mean that these children will not reach their full intellectual potential. In a subsequent study, researchers sought to reduce the risk of this childhood cognitive deficit by modifying the behavior of mothers who smoked. In this study it was found that when such women cut back on their cigarette use and improved their diet, their children three- and four-year-old children had about the same average IQ scores as children whose mothers did not smoke during pregnancy. Further research must confirm the theory that mothers who smoke during their children's pregnancy will impair their children's cognitive abilities. According to some researchers, the reported link between maternal smoking a child's performance on an IQ test years later may simply be a statistical fluke. Studies of this type need to test for IQ differences in teenage and later years. On the other hand, something in tobacco smoke may harm the developing fetal brain. Cigarette smoke contains an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 chemicals, some of which could damage fragile fetal cells. It may be that this smoke-induced damage does not shown up until the child reaches age three or four, when higher cognitive skills come into play. Recent studies have analyzed the tren
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Neidert Bound, IQ Fackelmann, Land Stockbauer, Smoking Health, United Smoking, Luther Terry, General's Report, Surgeon Report, John Lowe, KA Mother's, black teenagers, birth weight, infant mortality, low birth weight, black teenage, low birth, children mothers, mothers smoke, smoking pregnancy, mothers smoked, teenage smoking, geronimus neidert bound, american journal public, coronary artery disease, black female smokers,
Approximate Word count = 1702
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Dangers & Risks of Smoking