Each year, 31st May comes up with several awareness campaigns of No-Tobacco and health hazards of tobacco as we celebrate 31st May as World No Tobacco Day. We witness several articles with the theme ‘Say No to Tobacco’ in newspapers, magazines, posters in schools, colleges and several public places, flooding of social media with posts and memes, etc. To increase the awareness of health risks and hazards from the use of tobacco products.
This year on 31st May-2020, World No Tobacco Day is celebrated with the theme ‘Protecting youth from industry manipulation and preventing them from tobacco and nicotine use’ to protect youngsters by exposing various manipulating and vicious tactics of tobacco industries to indulge youth in bad habits of use of tobacco and nicotine products with the sole purpose to benefit their businesses.
“Educating youth is vital because nearly 9 out of 10 smokers start before age 18. We want to provide young people with the knowledge to speak out against tobacco industry manipulation,” said Ruediger Krech, Director for Health Promotion at WHO.
World No-Tobacco Day is supposed to increase awareness against the use of tobacco products but what do you think about how many individuals take this message seriously. Do you consider the World No-Tobacco Day seriously?
Presently the whole world fighting with Covid-19, worrying about how many individuals being affected and how many individuals being died from this Covid-19 virus worldwide. But can you imagine how many people die daily due to tobacco-caused disease?
According to WHO (World Health Organisation) recent data:
- Tobacco kills up to half of its users.
- Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year. More than 7 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.
- Over 80% of the world’s 1.3 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries.
According to the WHO report, till 2019 worldwide top three causes of death are Ischaemic Heart Disease, Stroke, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Tobacco is one of the main causes of these diseases. Cancer is also one of the top ten causes of worldwide deaths.
What is Tobacco?
The Group of several plants of Nicotiana genus and Solanaceae family is called Tobacco plants and products derived from their leaves are called Tobacco. Its leaves contain high levels of the addictive chemical nicotine and cancer-causing chemicals, especially polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Though few of these products are of medicinal use, most of them are used for making products of smoke (in cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, or Hukkah), chew (applied to the gums as dipping and chewing tobacco) or inhaling sniff/ snuff.
Nicotine is a chemical that acts as an addictive agent in cigarettes. It is a psychoactive stimulant that induces feelings of relaxation and reduced stress. On reduction or withdrawal of nicotine from the body, it causes intense irritability, restlessness, and difficulties in concentration.
Effects of SMOKING in the body:
No matter how one smokes it, tobacco is very hazardous to one’s health. There are no safe substances in any tobacco product. Any tobacco product that one inhales or smokes contains substances ranging from acetone and tar to nicotine and carbon monoxide is not just affect one’s lungs but affects the whole body.
While smoking can increase the risk of various severe and irreversible health disease over several years, some of the bodily effects are immediate. Learn more about the symptoms and overall effects of smoking on the body as under-
Mood Stimulation- Smoking can temporarily put you in a good mood, but dependence is common and withdrawal side effects like anxiety and irritability can be challenging to manage.
Cancer – Smoking related cancers can occur anywhere in the body. people who smoke have a higher rate of certain cancer, including cancer of the mouth, throat, lungs, bladder, kidney , blood cancer and many more.
COPD ( chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) – Developing COPD is more common in smoker.in fact, 8 out of 10 cases of COPD are due to smoking . your asthma symptoms can worsen as well.
Unhealthy Teeth– yellowish or brownish stains on the teeth are sign of long term smoking.smoking also increase your risk for infection or inflammation that can lead to tooth and bone loss.
Immune System– Smoking lowers your immune system’s ability to fight off infection. smokers have more infections of the respiratory tract than people who don’t smoke.
High Cholesterol- Tobacco smoke lowers your HDL ( good cholesterol) and increase your LDL ( bad cholesterol) . it also raises total cholesterol and triglycerides which are fats in your blood.
Heart Disease- smoking is one of the well-proven lifestyle habits that contribute to heart disease. both people who smoke and those who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke are at higher risk for heart attack.
Bronchitis– Smoker have a higher rate of bronchitis. secondhand smoking can also increase the risk for bronchitis, especially in children. other respiratory problem such as tuberculosis and pneumonia may worsen by smoking.
Constricted Blood Vessels– Nicotine causes blood vessels to tighten and restrict blood flow, which increases your risk for high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack.
Blood Clotting- Smoking can increase clotting throughout your body. blood clots increase the risk of heart damage, stroke,and pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs).
Yellow Finger- Handling tobacco product can stain your fingers and fingernails turning them yellow.
Early Menopause- Female smoker tend to enter menopause earlier than non-smokers. smoking has also been shown to increase hot flashes.
Anxiety and irritability- it feel when you missed your cigarette. Nicotine withdrawal is responsible for these symptoms.
Infertility- Both men and women who smoke are more likely to experience short and long term fertility issues than people who don’t smoke.
Persistent Coughing- You know the infamous term “Smoker’s cough”? this is where it come from. Damage to the airway contributes this cough.
Wrinkly Skin– substance in cigarettes can causes dry skins and premature aging. Reduce blood flow also causes your skin to get less nutrition.
Diabetes Complication- Type-2 diabetes tends to progress more rapidly in people who smoke, because smoking increases the amount of insulin resistance in the body. if you have diabetes and smoke. you’re also at a higher risk for other complication, such as kidney problem, eye problems and heart attack.
Problem with Pregnancy and Newborns- smoking during pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage, asthma, and death of newborn. it also puts the baby at risk for oxygen deprivation, growth problem, physical deformities, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Passive Smoking or Second-hand Smoking:
If you are a smoker, do you think you are only affecting yourself? No, you are also affecting everyone surrounding yourself with a process called Passive smoking or second-hand smoking.
Second-hand smoke is the combination of the smoke from the burning end of a cigarette and the smoke breathed out by smokers. It also contains several chemicals, toxins, and cancer-causing substances.
- Second-hand tobacco smoke causes more than 1.2 million premature deaths per year and serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
- Almost half of children regularly breathe air polluted by tobacco smoke in public places, and 65 000 die each year from illnesses attributable to second-hand smoke.
- In infants, it raises the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. In pregnant women, it causes pregnancy complications and low birth weight.
- Smoke-free laws protect the health of non-smokers and are popular, as they do not harm business and they encourage smokers to quit.
Are you ready to QUIT Smoking?
We all know quitting smoking is a very difficult task for anyone but do you want to give it a try? You might feel anxiety, irritability, or mood disorders, but if you become successful in quitting smoking, your body will start healing its life-threatening damages slowly but in a progressive manner.
This is how the body changes after the final Cigarette-
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