cigarette smoking, the inhalation of the gases and hydrocarbon vapors generated by slowly burning tobacco in cigarettes. The practice stems partly from the effect on the nervous system of the nicotine contained in the smoke. In addition to nicotine, nearly 1000 other chemicals have been identified in cigarette smoke, including carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic alcohols, cocarcinogenic phenols and fatty acids, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrocyanic acid, nitrogen oxides, and various irritants that suppress protease inhibition and impair alveolar macrophage function. Cigarette smoke is addictive and is considered more dangerous than pipe or cigar smoke because it is less irritating and therefore more likely to be inhaled. See also lung cancer, nicotine.
