This World Tobacco Day, lets know few things about the killer i.e Tobacco. People who smoke or use other forms of tobacco are more likely to develop diseases and die earlier than are people who don’t use tobacco.
If you smoke, you may worry about what it’s doing to your health. You probably worry, too, about how hard it might be to stop smoking. Nicotine is highly addictive, and to quit smoking especially without help can be difficult. In fact, most people don’t succeed the first time they try to quit. It may take more than one try, but you can stop smoking.
Smoking causes cancer, breathing problems, heart attacks, and stroke. Secondhand smoke causes asthma and breathing problems.
There are many effects of smoking but this presentation deals with a few of them.
There is no doubt about the fact that smoking is harmful. It affects every aspect of our lives, be it physical and mental health, environment, finances etc.
Smoking and Cancer
Cancer was one of the first diseases that researchers linked to cigarette smoking, and it continues to be smoking’s most notorious health effect. Cigarette smoking and tobacco use causes about one-third of all cancer deaths. Lung cancer is most closely linked to cigarette smoking. Smoking causes nearly all lung cancer deaths
Smoking and Respiratory Disease
Breathing in cigarette smoke is terribly harmful to the lungs. The damage starts with the first puff and continues until the smoker quits. About 9 out of 10 deaths from lung diseases are caused by smoking. A cigarette smoker’s risk of dying from a chronic obstructive lung disease like chronic bronchitis or emphysema is 10 times that of non-smokers:
- Chronic bronchitis occurs when cigarette smoke prompts the airways to produce too much protective mucus. The smoker develops a chronic cough to clear their airways of the mucus so they can breathe. Eventually, the airways swell and become blocked by scar tissue and mucus. The smoker with bronchitis has a higher risk of contracting pneumonia and other infections.
- Emphysema occurs as cigarette smoke destroys the tiny air sacs inside the lungs that allow oxygen to be diffused into the bloodstream. The process destroys the smoker’s ability to draw breath, eventually making them gasp and struggle for air.
Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease
Smoking also affects the heart and the circulatory system, and has been linked to coronary heart disease. Cigarette smokers are as much as four times more likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease than non-smokers, and are twice as likely to suffer strokes.
Short Term Effects
Every puff of cigarette contains a mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide and each time you smoke, it temporarily increases your
- Heart rate and
- Blood pressure.
- It also injures your heart and blood vessels.
Long Term Effects
- Loss of Appetite
- Yellowing of teeth
- Yellowing of facial hair
- Halitosis (bad breath)
- Lung cancer
- Other cancers of the mouth and throat
- Heart disease
- Memory Loss with the passage of time
- Premature Aging
- Low sperm count
- Emphysema
- COPD
- Wrinkles
The Dangers of Second-hand Smoke
- Cigarette smoking can harm your health even if you’re not a smoker. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes or workplaces have a 25 to 30 percent increase in their heart disease risk and a 20 to 30 percent increase in their lung cancer risk. Children whose parents or caregivers smoke have an increased risk of asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, coughing, wheezing.
Although the health consequences of smoking are dire, it’s important to remember that you can take control of your health by quitting. Once you give up cigarettes your body can begin to repair some of the damage smoking has caused.
References:
https://www.everydayhealth.com/smoking-cessation/understanding/medical-consequences.aspx
-Dr.Chandrashekar
#Thinkhealth blog 