Summary:
In this article, the growing popularity of legalizing marijuana in the US is shown. Even the most conservatives estimate that marijuana will be legalized within the next 10 years because of its economic potential, and the cost to control it's use isn't worth it. COPD is a disease of the lungs and narrow airways with no cure. Most cases of COPD are caused by smoking cigarettes for long periods of time. Research has shown that smoking marijuana alone doesn't increase the risk of COPD, but by smoking marijuana and cigarettes, the risk of COPD is nearly tripled. It is believed that marijuana makes the lungs more sensitive to the effects of cigarettes, so people should not mix the two substances.
Connection:
During the last unit we studied how the respiratory system works. We discussed how smoking can damage the lungs. In this article, the effects of smoking cigarettes is shown, and it is explained how adding marijuana to cigarette use is extremely dangerous and harmful to the lungs and respiratory system and could cause COPD. COPD involves the narrowing of the airways which prevents the flow of oxygen into the lungs and carbon dioxide out of the lungs causing less efficient breathing. Also, since COPD involves diseased lungs, that means that less air can diffuse in and out of the bloodstream.
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-health-risk-of-smoking-weed-and-cigarettes-what-every-toker-should-know
what other things can increase a person's risk of getting COPD?
ReplyDeleteThe main cause of COPD is smoking cigarettes for a long period of time, but other factors may increase the risk of getting COPD such as genetics, or being exposed to air pollution, dusts, or chemicals in the air.
DeleteHow do cigarettes and marijuana work together to cause COPD?
ReplyDeleteThey believe that the use of marijuana makes the tissue in the lungs more sensitive and susceptible to the damage that smoking cigarettes can cause. This increases the damage caused by smoking either marijuana or cigarettes alone.
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