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Other sections found within "Dangers of Tobacco":
Addiction // Cancer // Lung and Heart Disease // Fatigue and Headache
Second-hand Smoke // Other Dangers >> Coffin Nails Homepage & Introduction


Because smoking tobacco makes it difficult for the bloodstream to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues, it contributes to a feeling of fatigue.  Recent studies have indicated that tobacco users suffer more frequently from symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome, including anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, than do lifelong nonsmokers (although clinical research has not yet established a causal link).  Headaches are also a common problem for smokers, since tobacco use raises blood pressure, inflames sinuses and nasal passages, and increases the risk of stroke and heart disease, all of which are associated with headaches.

A news brief in the May 16, 1868 issue of Harper’s Weekly cited a famous (though unnamed) writer who, after giving up a thirty-year smoking habit, had fewer headaches and more vigor.  He also testified to being more cheerful and better able to endure the difficult times in life.  He concluded emphatically, “It does not pay to smoke; but more decidedly it pays to stop smoking.”  Another literary man, in the February 2, 1885 issue, admitted that his smoking habit was demoralizing, leaving him tired and with headaches.  During periods of nonsmoking, his headaches and weariness disappeared.


Harper's Weekly References
1)  May 16, 1868, p. 315, c. 4
former smoker attests to renewed vigor.  He concludes, “It did not pay to smoke; but most decidedly it pays to stop smoking.”

2)  February 7, 1885, p. 83, c. 3
“Personal” column, habitual cigar smoking induces headaches and weariness


Sources Consulted
“Frequently Asked Questions,” Cancerfatigue.org, http://www.cancerfatigue.org/ask/faq.php?faq_category_id=1

Jay, Stephen J., M.D., letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 285, no. 11, March 21, 2001, http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v285n11/ffull/jlt0321-3.html

Robert, Teri, “Smoking and Headaches:  Another Reason to Quit,” About.com, http://headaches.about.com/library/weekly/aa110700a.htm

 
 

Other sections found within "Dangers of Tobacco":
Addiction // Cancer // Lung and Heart Disease // Fatigue and Headache
Second-hand Smoke // Other Dangers >> Coffin Nails Homepage & Introduction


     
 

 
     
 

 
     
 

 

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