Tobacco

A detailed Summary of Tobacco

A plant infamous to our society is the Tobacco plant. Used for recreation, for looks, and for addiction it has found a seemingly permanent place in human culture. Used in various forms it is generally dried out and smoked but does come in other forms. Although detrimental in most aspects, it is being found that tobacco has many medicinal purposes. Some such purposes include possible cures for some types of cancers, for hunger needs, and, ironically enough, for a certain type of respiratory disease.

Tobacco is grown mostly in the tropics although is grown as far north as North Carolina and Connecticut. Some locations in the tropics include Africa, Brazil, Cuba, the Canary Islands, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, the Philippines, and Sumatra.

Tobacco can be incredibly destructive. Smoking produces diseases known as Chronic Obstructive Airway Disease (COAD). This is actually comprised of two related diseases, Emphysema and Bronchitis. Emphysema causes an enlargement of the air sacs in the lungs and is permanent. Most victims have to go on oxygen to get enough oxygen into their body. Their breathing becomes difficult as mucus can fill the lungs and the air sacs enla

Tobacco is very widely used as a drug that's smoked. Various types include cigarettes, cigars and lose tobacco. Although accepted up until the late 50's as not damaging to health it was discovered it created a wide variety of cancers and diseases. The nicotine in the plant is a very addictive substance. After repeated use a person who quits using it typically develops headache's and is very irritable due to with-drawl symptoms. This obviously makes it difficult to stop and that's what feeds the income for the Major tobacco companies.

Still another use of tobacco that is positive is the use of it as an additive to foods for protein. A protein in it known as Fraction-1 is ideal as a food additive as it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. The only problem was that such a use of this plant is that it simply wasn't cost effective. However, in the early nineties a way was made to make it more cost effective to use. Not only was the new way to extract Fraction-1 made more evident but a slew of other uses were found as well. These include making a fiber substance similar to wheat bran, a residue that could be distilled into alcohol, and certain pharmaceutical uses.

Through the uses of tobacco human kind can either hurt or help themselves. Medicinal values are clear and proven and so are the adverse effects of tobacco.

Although most of the things heard about tobacco are negative, science is coming up with some ways to put it to an advantage. One such use is a way to use substances found in the plant to help cure a certain type of cancer. It was proven to "Elicit immune responses that protect against malignant tumor cells in a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) model." (Sandra W. Key et al) By using a tobacco plant and making a virus for it the scientists are able to make the plant produce large quantities of tumor-specific antigens. These can prevent the production of NHL tumors.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Poison Chlorine, Bronchitis Emphysema, Virus RSV, , Sandra Key, Lies JEL, Sumatra Tobacco, Disease COAD, Carolina Connecticut, tobacco plant, air sacs, medicinal values, bronchial tubes, shock messages, effects tobacco, cost effective,

Approximate Word count = 1289
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science