Maris Stella High School Class : Sec 4 ( ) No: _______

Sec 4 Pure & Sc Biology Name: ___________________

Topic 6.5: Additonal Notes Date: _____________

SMOKING
You should be able to:
8 (e) describe the effect of tobacco smoke and its major toxic components -
nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide, on health

1. Introduction
People may start smoking for different reasons. Some believe that smoking is
a symbol of adulthood. Some started out of curiosity. Some may like to imitate
their parents who smoke. Many smoke because they want to be accepted as
members of a group of friends who smoke. Their friends’ persistent teasing
and urging may make them feel that they are not “sporting” enough if they do
not smoke (‘peer group’ pressure).

When someone needs to smoke a certain number of cigarettes in a day at

particular times, e.g. after a meal, they have already formed a habit. If they
do not smoke at those times, they feel that something is missing.

A cigarette is also considered a drug. One can become addicted to it. But it is
no more considered a socially-accepted drug since it is detrimental to health.
Recent studies have suggested that breathing in other people’s tobacco smoke
(passive smoking) can also cause smoking related diseases. It contains nicotine
that is highly addictive. This is the reason why a person becomes addicted to
cigarettes – cigarette smokers crave for nicotine.

Bio T6.5 Additional Notes.doc 1

Maris Stella High School Smoking
Secondary 4 Biology Topic 6.5 Notes

People who try to stop smoking may develop withdrawal symptoms if they have
smoked heavily for a long time. These symptoms include craving to smoke,
becoming sleepless and irritable, numbness in the arms and legs, an inability to
concentrate on their work and coughing more than usual. These unpleasant
symptoms make some continue to smoke, even though the symptoms usually
disappear within a relatively short time.

2. Facts about Smoking

Nicotine
This is the addictive drug present in tobacco.
• It stimulates the brain at first making the smoker feel alert, and
relaxes the muscles. Later, it dulls the brain and senses.
• It causes the release of adrenaline. This increases the rate of
heartbeat and blood pressure.
• It makes blood clot easily. Therefore, it increases the risk of blood
clots blocking blood vessels. If such clots block the coronary arteries, a
heart attack may occur, or if they occur in capillaries of the brain, a
stroke may result.
• It can also constrict blood vessels. The narrowing of blood vessels can
lead, after many years, to damaged circulation. This is especially so in
the legs, which in extreme cases may have to be amputated.

Carbon monoxide
• It increases the rate at which fatty substances are deposited on the
inner walls of arteries, causing their lumen to become narrower. This
increases the risk of atherosclerosis.
• It damages the lining of blood vessels, thus increasing the tendency of
the blood to clot and so block blood vessels.
• It reduces the efficiency of red blood cells to transport oxygen.

Tar
This is the brown, sticky substance that accumulates in the lungs during
smoking.
• It contains many cancer-causing (carcinogenic) chemicals. Normally, cell
division occurs continuously in the lungs to replace the epithelium or
membrane of the air sacs. Tar induces these cells to divide at an
abnormal rate. Such uncontrolled multiplication of cells results in
outgrowths or lumps of tissue (cancers). These block off the air sacs,
reducing the efficiency for gaseous exchange.

Bio T6.5 Notes.doc 2

Maris Stella High School Smoking
Secondary 4 Biology Topic 6.5 Notes

Irritants
Examples include hydrogen cyanide & acrolein.
• These substances paralyse the cilia in
the air passages and weaken the walls
of the alveoli.

• They irritate the cell lining the air

passages, causing them to produce
mucus. The smoker coughs to bring up
the excess mucus. The coughing bursts
the weaken walls of the alveoli
(emphysema). This process greatly
reduces the gaseous exchange surface
in the lungs.

3. Smoking-Related Diseases in Singapore

Lung cancer (must read note on ‘tar’)
In lung cancer, uncontrolled division of cells starts in the lung tissues and
forms a tumour which takes up more and more space and prevents the normal
lung tissues carrying out its function of gaseous exchange.

In Singapore, lung cancer is the most common cancer in the last 30 years.
More than 85% of the lung cancer victims are smokers. The cure rate of this
type of cancer is 5%. Life expectancy after the symptoms appear is less than
6 months.

Bio T6.5 Notes.doc 3

Maris Stella High School Smoking
Secondary 4 Biology Topic 6.5 Notes

Chronic bronchitis (must read notes on ‘irritants’)

The inner lining and the cilia of the air
passages constantly remove small particles
from the air we breathe in, to the back of the
throat (pharynx), where it is swallowed without
being noticed.

Cigarette irritants increase mucus production

and slow down or stop the wafting of the
hairs/cilia. This reduces the airflow in the air
passages, and so breathing becomes difficult.
The smoker coughs and wheezes persistently
to clear his air passages. Coughing and bringing
up excess mucus (phlegm) are often the first stage of bronchitis, so called
because of the irritation in the bronchi & bronchioles.

Chronic, which means long-lasting, bronchitis (with constant coughing) damages

the thin dividing walls between the alveoli (emphysema), with the result that
the area for gaseous exchange is greatly reduced.

Emphysema
Emphysema is commonly associated with chronic bronchitis and cigarette
smoking. The partition walls between the alveoli break down because of intense
coughing, enlarging the air spaces and decreasing the surface area of the
lungs. This reduces the absorption of oxygen. An infected person suffers
breathlessness even on slight exertion. At a later stage, viruses and bacteria
infect the damaged lungs and can lead to fever. Scar tissue forms in the lungs
and the bronchioles leading to the alveoli becoming narrower.

When a person has both chronic bronchitis and emphysema, he is said to

suffer from chronic obstructive lung disease.

Summary of the Effects

A smaller area for gaseous exchange means that less oxygen can be taken into
the blood, with the retention of carbon dioxide. Together with the narrowing
of air passages, this causes shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing at
the least exertion.

Coronary Heart Disease

Must read notes on T5 CHD / Risk factors of CHD.

Bio T6.5 Notes.doc 4

Maris Stella High School Smoking
Secondary 4 Biology Topic 6.5 Notes

4. Smoking and Pregnancy (no more in syllabus)

The carbon dioxide and nicotine in cigarette smoke affect the development of
the foetus. The carbon monoxide combines with the haemoglobin in the
mother’s red blood cells to form a new compound, carboxyhaemoglobin, which
cannot transport oxygen. Thus, it reduces the amount of oxygen reaching the
foetus through the placenta.

Nicotine causes the arteries that bring blood to the placenta to narrow.
Therefore, the amount of food substances reaching the foetus is also reduced.
The mother’s health is also affected. She may suffer from lack of oxygen or
chronic bronchitis.

Evidence has shown that women who continue to smoke during pregnancy put
their babies at risk in the following ways:
• The brain development of the foetus is affected. The child may have
learning difficulties in later life.

• The foetus grows more slowly. The oxygen available to the foetus is
reduced, less energy is released by the foetus to make his cells and
tissues. We know this from the lower average birth weight of babies
whose mothers have smoked during pregnancy.

• There is a higher risk (2 or 3 times higher) of the baby being born

prematurely.

• There is a greater risk of miscarriage.

• The baby has greater risk of being born dead (stillborn).

Bio T6.5 Notes.doc 5