Smoking is a habit that is taken up by almost 30% of the growing teenage population . It not only plagues the young but also the old. When cigarette smoking was first introduced, it was meant to be a pastime. It was also considered to be 'cool','hip' etc. People felt, smoking cigarettes would them socially acceptable but what they did not realize was the human body isn't designed to accept its effects. Smoking deteorates the health of a person but also eventually leads to fatal illnesses.

During the early thirties and forties, when baseball was becoming popular sport, tobacco companies contracted star players such as Lou Gehrig to portray their success by cigarette smoking but in contrary smokers do not make good athletes. Athletes need to have a lot of endurance and need to perform under stressful conditions. Smoking can evidently affect both of these. When an athlete in particular, starts smoking, his /her airway resistance is increased, which means, the person is utilizing most of the energy for breathing leaving less energy for physical activity. The airway resistance is increased because Co2 (Carbon Monoxide one of the by products as a result of smoking)

Smoking cigarettes damages the body slowly and immensely. Although the effects of smoking are not experienced right away, the most damage done is to the cardiovascular system. This system is composed of the heart, lungs and the circulatory system. An athlete especially constantly uses the system during training and performance.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Carbon Monoxide, System Smoking, Smoke Smoking, Nicotine Nicotine, Smoking Weight, Lou Gehrig, ATHLETE Smoking, Smoking Performance, second-hand smoke, smoke inhaled, cigarette smoking, cardiovascular system, smoking cigarettes, second-hand smoke inhaled, blood stream, 12 minutes, non-smoker covered, track non-smoker, exhaled smoker, track non-smoker covered, airway resistance increased,
Approximate Word count = 1261
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)