Who doesn't know smoking cigarette is bad, but do you know it harms nearly every organ of your body. World Health Organization (WHO) says smoking and smokeless tobacco killing nearly 6 million people worldwide which mean one death every 6 seconds each year. Smoking tobacco is the second leading cause of death and fourth leading cause of disease worldwide. Unfortunately, this killing tobacco is the legally available consumer product in our country.
Main Ingredient of Cigarette
Nicotine: It is an addictive substance which stimulates your central nervous system and increases your heart beat and blood pressure. A large quantity of nicotine is extremely poisonous.
Carbon Monoxide: It binds to the hemoglobin in your blood more easily than oxygen, thus reduce saturation level of your body.
Tar: It is a mixture of dangerous chemical substances which deposit in your lungs.
Smoking and Lung Disease
- Smoking damages your airways and the small air sacs (alveoli) found in your lungs
- Smoking causes shortness of breath and wheezing
- Smoking cause chronic bronchitis, which leads to a recurring cough with frequent phlegm. It occurs in about half of all heavy smokers.
- If you have asthma, tobacco smoke can trigger and make it worse
- Smoking decline lung function, we all lose our lung function as we age, but this process occurs earlier and faster among smokers
- Smoking cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Note:
- Smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die from COPD than non-smokers
- About 80% (or 8 out of 10) of all deaths from COPD are caused by smoking
- Smoking is the main cause of lung cancer
- About 90% (or 9 out of 10) of all lung cancer deaths in men and women are caused by smoking
- More women die from lung cancer each year than from breast cancer
Smoking and Heart Disease
- Smokers are at high risk for cardiovascular disease
- It causes stroke and coronary heart disease
- Smokers under 65 years are around three times more likely to have a stroke than non-smokers of the same age
- It damages your blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower
- Thick and narrow artery increases your heart beat as well as your blood pressure
- Smoking leads to abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), which causes bursting of the lower part of the aorta leading from the heart & brings sudden death
Note:
- Around 30% of all cases of heart disease in those under 65 years are due to smoking
Smoking and Cancer:
- Cancer of Oropharynx (includes parts of the throat, tongue, soft palate, and the tonsils)
- Cancer of Trachea, bronchus & lung
- Cancer of Larynx
- Cancer of Esophagus
- Cancer of Stomach
- Cancer of Pancreas
- Cancer of Liver
- Cancer of Kidney and ureter
- Cancer of Bladder
- Cancer of Blood (acute myeloid leukemia)
- Cancer of Cervix
- Cancer of Colon and rectum (colorectal)
Smoking and Reproduction
- Smoking increase risk of impotence or may have reduced semen volume, sperm count, and sperm quality
- Smoking reduce fertility in women
- Smoking increase risk of miscarriage
- Smoking during pregnancy leads to restricted fetal growth and low birth weight
- Smoking increase risk of birth defects
Smoking and Other diseases
- Smokers are at high risk of type 2 diabetes
- Smoking causes eye diseases, such as macular degeneration and cataracts
- Smoking cause Low bone density in both sexes
- Smoking cause periodontitis, a dental disease that affects the gum and bone that supports the teeth
- Tuberculosis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
Benefits of quitting tobacco
- Quitting tobacco immediately cuts your cardiovascular disease risks
- Just in one year after quitting smoking, your risk for a heart attack quickly drops
- Within 2 to 5 years after quitting smoking, your risk for stroke could fall to about the same as a nonsmoker’s
- If you quit smoking, your risks for cancers of the esophagus, throat, mouth & bladder drop by half within 5 years
- Ten years after you quit smoking, your risk of lung cancer drops by half
According to WHO, global adult tobacco survey in India 2010, over one in two people in India are exposed to second-hand smoke at home and 29% at public places. More than 5 million deaths are due to direct tobacco use, while more than 600,000 are from exposure to second-hand smoke. So it's in your hand to keep your home and society safe.
If you are a tobacco user, it's not too late to quit. Start fight against your smoking habit from today.
http://www.quit.org.au/resource-centre/facts-evidence/fact-sheets/deaths-and-disease-from-smoking
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/one-million-tobacco-deaths-in-india-every-year-yet-politicians-in-denial/story-AlCLK66RW6xi9raARYVXdL.html
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/
