Francisco Javier Ruano / EN-102 / Nov. 26th, 2008
Smoking must be banned! This is the most usual way people think about smoking because it causes different kind of diseases the worst of such is lung cancer. The worst problem of smoking is not for the one who is smoking but for second hand smokers. Smokers should have their own space for smoking without bothering someone else if they are not able to stop smoking. People would have so many reasons for banning smoking all over the world, but smoking is not the real problem people must fight; the problem is about excesses. Smokers bother people with their smoke which contains too much Carbon-Dioxide (CO2). CO2 is the principal cause of Lung Cancer Disease. There are many other taboos about smoking. On the other hand, smoking is not completely harmful, it also has some benefits: (1) Smoking has positive effects on cerebral functions. (2) Smoking lowers Parkinson Disease, and (3) Smoking can be use as a setoff for Alzheimer’s disease.
This work is not to leading people to start smoking. Most smokers have the problem of exceeding or abusing smoking cigarettes. As usual, the problem is not smoking itself but the excess. The excess on alcohol is called alcoholism. The excess of being religious is called fanaticism. Everything in excess is harmful. Smoking is not the exception. Cigarettes have different chemical components; Nicotine is one of them. Nicotine is always in our bodies, “Nicotinic acid is a B vitamin found in yeast, liver, eggs, and other foods and is also known as niacin, or vitamin B3” (Mark), and smoking is a side way to get some nicotine.
Other benefit of smoking is its effect in cerebral functions; smoking boosts memory and improves concentration. Some studies have been being developed in different places around the world about smoking and the cerebral functions. “Tobacco has long been known to have a stimulating effect on the brain. Victorian doctors recommended smoking as a means of sharpening the wits and boosting concentration” (Derbyshire). The use of tobacco is not new, It has had prescribed by doctors since Victorian age. Tobacco has nicotine, and nicotine contributes to developing a better concentration and memory. Smoking also improves the ability of speaking because of the chemicals in the cigarette have some effects on that cognitive part of the brain. “A number of studies indicating nicotine’s ability to improve attention and cognition only confirm that nicotine has the ability to reverse withdrawal effects” (Ygoy). In addition, smoking has some positive effects on mental thoughts. The Quit Smoking Center (TQSC) has found that people who suffer from depression or anxiety are able to put those feelings away since nicotine can be used as medication against this mental disorders while smoking can me use as the medium of how these people can get their nicotine. “The nicotine in your cigarettes acts like an anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medication” (TQSC). Smoking has more benefits against many diseases.
Smoking lowers Parkinson Disease. Parkinson’s disease is a bodily motor disorder. Different developed studies have shown that smokers are less like to suffer from Parkinson Disease. “Nicotine has long been known to affect the central and peripheral nervous systems of man. It has variously been regarded as an exacerbating factor or as a therapeutic modality in Parkinson's disease” (Kessler). Nicotine in measured amounts has been used for people who suffer Parkinson’s disease. This study was made by The John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. They assessed the quantity of people with Parkinson’s disease during two years. The result of this study revealed that the patients who were not smokers developed a sort of Parkinson’s disease which was more refractory than the patients who were smokers. Moreover, one study made by Harvard School of Public health compared smokers, former smokers, and people who have never smoked. This study was followed for nine years, and there were around 143,000 people. The outcome of this long work was: “people who had never smoked and were considered to have ‘normal’ Parkinson's disease risk, former smokers had a 22-percent lower risk of Parkinson's disease and current smokers had a 73-percent lower risk” (Rauscher). So, it can be said that nicotine has a positive effect of lowering risk of Parkinson’s disease. But this is not the only disease smoking can help on.
Last but not least, Alzheimer’s disease, one of the worst mental diseases, effects can be reduced with smoking. Alzheimer’s disease is a mental disorder based on lost of memory and some other fundamental intellectual functions. It is shown by some scientists that smoking can be as a shield against this disease. “Acute administration of low doses of nicotine improved mental processes and may be protective in AD. This possibility was first put forward by Appel, who noted that only 6 out of 30 patients had smoked at any time in their lives” (Forces). There are many studies that show how this disease can be post posed by smoking. “Many studies including some sponsored by the federal government, have shown that nicotine may in fact delay the onset and effects of both Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases” (Tarkovsky). This means that even the United States government is working to prove that the nicotine the tobacco contains is not completely harmful. The nicotine can be use for treating Alzheimer’s disease because, as it is said above, smoking boost memory and it can develop some other mental benefits.
People are always against smoking just since many smokers have died because of lung cancer. It is true to think smokers will get cancer, but there is a restriction. People might fall on vice. Nicotine is highly addictive. Tobacco has nicotine. Therefore, people can fall into this addiction. Every drug a doctor prescribes is addictive, but at least tobacco is a legal drug, so people will not break any law by consuming tobacco. I want to emphasize that this work is not asking people to smoke, or giving them an excuse for doing so. This is just to let people know that most of them have fallen in a fallacy: “Guilty by Association.”
To conclude, people assume that as smokers have died of lung cancer smoking is completely harmful. Here are three important reasons how smoking can be healthy. Smoking can be used for boosting memory and concentration as well as against Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Smoking is not wrong by itself; what is wrong is the vice of smoking, which means to smoke too many cigarettes during the day (24 hours). As it is known that a cup of wine every day is really healthy, around three cigarettes a day might be healthy as well.
Work Cited
Derbyshire, David. Smoking ‘is good for your memory and concentration. Mail Online: August 2008. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1034701/Smoking-good-memory-concentration.html>
Forces. Smokers have reduced risks of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. <http://www.forces.org/evidence/files/liars.htm#alz>
Kessler, Irving I. and Earl L. Diamond. Epidemiologic Studies of Parkinson’s disease. Oxford Journals: American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 4 No. 1: 16-25. <http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/94/1/16?ck=nck>
Mark, Paul. Does Nicotine help Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Patients? The Vermont Cynic. <http://media.www.vermontcynic.com/media/storage/paper308/news/2005/11/01/News/Does-Nicotine.Help.Alzheimers.And.Parkinsons.Patients-1040930.shtml>
Rauscher, Megan. Smoking lowers Parkinson disease risk. Reuteres. March 2007. <http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL06339920070320>
Tarkovsky, Sara. Nicotine – Are We Ignoring Its Health Benefits? <http://ezinearticles.com/?Nicotine---Are-We-Ignoring-Its-Health-Benefits?&id=291157>
The Quit Smoking Center (TQSC). The Benefits of Smoking. <http://www.drquit.com/articles/trying/benefits/index.html>
Ygoy. Can Smoking Enhance Your Performance? <http://smoking.ygoy.com/can-smoking-enhance-your-performance>
