The History of Tobacco Use

Tobacco use is very prevalent in the United States. People smoke in cigarettes, pipes, cigars and hookahs. Some people also chew tobacco. Tobacco companies make millions on the sale of their products each year even though people know using tobacco is deadly.

The History of Tobacco

Ancient civilizations did not use tobacco regularly, although evidence of its use in many ancient civilizations is prevalent. Much of the history of early tobacco use begins with Native Americans. Tobacco grew naturally all over America and the Native Americans quickly discovered its appeal. The primary reason native americans used tobacco were medicinal and ceremonial practices. When they used the tobacco they would smoke it in a pipe.

European exploration lead to explorers discovering the tobacco plant and bringing it home with them from their travels. Christopher Columbus was given tobacco leaves and seeds as a gift by Native Americans and he brought the back to spain with him. Use of tobacco didn't become popular in europe until the early 16th century. Once the popularity of tobacco smoking increased world wide, tobacco became Americas largest commercial export. Farmers eventually had difficulty keeping up with the demand for more crop and that is what lead to the slave trade in early America.

When tobacco use first began pipe smoking was more common the cigarette smoking. In fact at the time chewing tobacco and snuff were more popular then cigarette smoking. Since the 1600s people have been smoking a form of cigarette. However, the use of cigarettes and cigars didn't become popular until the late 1800s. Although researchers were aware that tobacco use was addictive, they were unaware of its ill effects on a persons health until the mid 1900s.

Tobacco Effects

People who use tobacco are increasing there risks of developing a variety of smoking related diseases. Among those illnesses are cancer of the mouth, throat, stomach, pancreas and lungs. Heart disease, hypertension, lung disease, gallbladder problems, infertility issues, bronchitis, emphysema and asthma are just some of the illness that can develop from tobacco use.

Using tobacco can also effect a persons appearance. Smoking dries out your skin and effects its elasticity. This leads to more wrinkles at an earlier age. Additionally, dries up the saliva in your mouth and that can lead to gum disease and tooth decay.

Using tobacco can also alter your mood. Tobacco contains nicotine, which is a stimulant. This leads many people to depend on tobacco use for stress and anxiety relief. Over use of tobacco can create a nervous energy from the excess adrenaline that nicotine tricks our body into releasing. This adrenaline release can lead to a host of other problems both physically and mentally.

The use of tobacco effects every facet of our lives. It costs money, can effect our health both mentally and physically and can alter our outward appearance. Quitting tobacco use is not easy, but it is possible. many methods exist to help people break themselves of nicotine addiction.