Cigarette Smoking and the Body essays

Cigarette Smoking and the Body essays Tobacco is consumed worldwide everyday by millions of people. Many people cannot prevent themselves from smoking because tobacco contains a drug called nicotine that makes them feel as if they need it in order to function normally. Nicotine is a substance found in tobacco. It is found in all tobacco products such as: cigarettes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, and cigars. When a person smokes a tobacco product, they inhale the smoke, which contains nicotine as well as over 500 chemicals, including formaldehyde (used to preserve dead bodies), cyanide, insecticide, carbon monoxide and tar [1]. I personally think that smoking is detrimental and that it has many fatal side effects, but eventhough many people know of these effects, they still chose to smoke. For what reason? Nicotine has a few positive effects on the body. It stimulates memory and alertness, enhancing cognitive skills that require speed, reaction time, vigilance, and work performance. It acts as a mood-altering agent, it tends to alleviate boredom and reduce stress, and reduces aggressive responses to stressful events. It also tends to be an appetite suppressant, specifically decreasing the appetite for simple carbohydrates (sweets) and inhibiting the efficiency with which food is metabolised. People who use tobacco products frequently depend upon it providing these side effects to help them accomplish certain tasks at specific levels of performance. Many people start smoking for the reasons mentioned before but some also smoke primarily because of peer pressure and advertising. Some also start to smoke because they think it makes them look cool. These 'positive' effects may seem reason enough for you to smoke but the negative effects are much greater and detrimental. The immediate affects of nicotine on the body include: increase in blood pressure, increase in heart rate, thickening of blood, narrowing of arteries, decrease in skin temperature, increase in resp...

Profile of Panama for Spanish Students

Profile of Panama for Spanish Students Introduction: Panama historically has had closer ties with the United States than any country in Latin America other than Mexico. The country is known best, of course, for the Panama Canal, which the United States built for both military and trade purposes at the start of the 20th century. The United States maintained sovereignty over parts of Panama until 1999. Vital Statistics: Panama covers an area of 78,200 square kilometers. It had a population of 3 million at the end of 2003 and a growth rate of 1.36 percent (July 2003 estimate). The life expectancy at birth is 72 years. The literacy rate is about 93 percent. The countrys gross domestic product is about $6,000 per person, and a little more than a third of the people live in poverty. The unemployment rate was 16 percent in 2002. Main industries are the Panama Canal and international banking. Linguistic Highlights: Spanish is the official language. About 14 percent speak a creole form of English, and many residents are bilingual in Spanish and English. About 7 percent speak indigenous languages, the largest of them being Ngberre. There are also pockets of Arabic and Chinese speakers. Studying Spanish in Panama: Panama has several small language schools, most of them in Panama City. Most of the schools offer home stays, and costs tend to be low. Tourist Attractions: The Panama Canal is on most visitors must-see list, but those coming for extended stays can find a wide variety of destinations. They include beaches on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Darien National Park and cosmopolitan Panama City. Trivia: Panama was the first Latin American country to adopt the U.S. currency as its own. Technically, the balboa is the official currency, but U.S. bills are used for paper money. Panamanian coins are used, however. History: Before the Spanish arrived, what is now Panama was populated by 500,000 or more people from dozens of groups. The largest group was the Cuna, whose earliest origins are unknown. Other major groups included the Guaymà ­ and the Chocà ³. The first Spaniard in the area was Rodrigo de Bastidas, who explored the Atlantic coast in 1501. Christopher Columbus visited in 1502. Both conquest and disease reduced the indigenous population. In 1821 the area was a province of Colombia when Colombia declared its independence from Spain. Building a canal across Panama had been considered as early as the mid 16th century, and in 1880 the French tried - but the attempt ended in the death of some 22,000 workers from yellow fever and malaria. Panamanian revolutionaries secured Panamas independence from Colombia in 1903 with military support from the United States, which quickly negotiated the rights to build a canal and exercise sovereignty over land on both sides. The U.S. started construction of the canal in 1904 and finished the greatest engineering achievement of its time  in 10 years. Relations between the U.S. and Panama in coming decades were strained, largely due to popular Panamanian bitterness over the prominent role of the U.S. In 1977, despite controversies and political snags in both the U.S. and Panama, the countries negotiated an agreement turning over the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century. In 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush sent U.S. troops to Panama to oust and capture Panamanian President Manuel Noriega. He was forcefully brought to the United States, put on trial for drug trafficking and other crimes, and imprisoned.   The treaty turning over the canal was not fully accepted by many political conservatives in the United States. When a ceremony was held in Panama in 1999 to formally turn over the canal, no senior U.S. officials attended.