Project Chapter 4 (Maintaining Life)

Questions and Answer

Q1 When did scientists first begin to think that smoking was bad for health? What made them think this?
How did they share their ideas?
Ans: In 1602 an anonymous English author published an essay titled Work of Chimney Sweepers (sic)
which stated that illnesses often seen in chimney sweepers were caused by soot and that tobacco may
have similar effects. This was one of the earliest known instances of smoking being linked to ill health.
•In 1795 Samuel Thomas von Soemmerring of Germany reported that he was becoming more aware of
cancers of the lip in pipe smokers
•In 1798 the US physician Benjamin Rush wrote on the medical dangers of tobacco
•During the 1920s the first medical reports linking smoking to lung cancer began to appear. Many
newspaper editors refused to report these findings as they did not want to offend tobacco companies who
advertised heavily in the media
•A series of major medical reports in the 1950s and 1960s confirmed that tobacco caused a range of
serious diseases.
•Lung cancer was once a very rare disease, so rare that doctors took special notice when confronted with a
case, thinking it a once-in-a-lifetime oddity. Mechanization and mass marketing towards the end of the
19th century popularized the cigarette habit, however, causing a global lung cancer epidemic. Cigarettes
were recognized as the cause of the epidemic in the 1940s and 1950s, with the confluence of studies from
epidemiology, animal experiments, cellular pathology and chemical analytics. Cigarette manufacturers
disputed this evidence, as part of an orchestrated conspiracy to salvage cigarette sales.
The main ways that scientists communicate their research on Tobacco Cigarettes was done by publishing
the results in journals. Another Major factor that helped Scientists to share their ideas by conferences or
lectures
Q2 What evidence is there that smoking is bad for health?

Ans Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), Smoking also increases risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and
problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis.
Q3 What evidence is there that smoking has a negative effect on the development of a fetus?

Ans Some of the problems caused by smoking during pregnancy include:

• increased risk of premature birth • increased risk of miscarriage and infant death.

• lower birth weight – on average, about 150 to 200 grams less than normal.

• up to three times the risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy.

Some of the many damaging effects of cigarette smoke on the fetus include:

• reduced oxygen supply due to carbon monoxide and nicotine

• delayed growth and development • increased risk of cleft lip and cleft

Q4 How have people responded to this evidence? Has the number of people smoking decreased in most
countries? Has the number of women smoking during pregnancy decreased in most countries?

Ans