Tobacco use is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, over 20 different types or subtypes of cancer, and numerous other disabling medical issues due to the extremely addictive nature of the nicotine included in tobacco. More than 8 million people lose their lives to tobacco usage each year. The majority of tobacco-related deaths take place in low- and middle-income nations, which are frequently the focus of intense marketing and industry influence.
Nonsmokers can also die from tobacco use. Additionally linked to poor health consequences, secondhand smoke exposure accounts for over 1.2 million annual deaths. Nearly half of all youngsters breathe tobacco smoke-polluted air, and 65000 young people pass away each year from diseases linked to second-hand smoke. Babies that smoke while their mothers are pregnant may develop a number of chronic health issues.
Lung cancer may come to mind if you were asked to explain the connection between tobacco and cancer. It is true that nearly nine out of every ten occurrences of lung cancer are caused by smoking tobacco products, including cigarettes and cigars. However, smoking causes cancer practically everywhere in the body, including the, Bladder, blood (acute myeloid leukemia), cervix, rectum and colon, esophagus, renal pelvis and kidney, liver, the trachea, bronchi, and lungs, throat and mouth, Pancreas, Stomach, Voice box (larynx).
Don't start smoking if you don't already! If you smoke, stop immediately!
Tobacco Smoke
Regardless of how long you've smoked, stopping can lower your chance of developing cancer and other chronic diseases. Nicotine is a chemical that occurs naturally in tobacco, and it is the cause of addiction in many tobacco users. It could be challenging to stop consuming cigarettes as a result. Most smokers make multiple unsuccessful attempts to quit before they finally succeed. There are techniques you can use to stop smoking
At least 70 chemicals that can cause cancer are present in the smoke from cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. Every time you inhale that smoke, chemicals from it enter your bloodstream, which then transports them to every area of your body. Many of these chemicals have the potential to harm your DNA, which regulates how your body produces new cells and instructs each type of cell to function as it was intended to. Cells can develop differently from how they should if their DNA is damaged. These peculiar cells are carcinogenic.
Secondhand Smoke
Smoke from cigarettes can cause cancer in those who do not smoke as well. Their neighbors, including their children, partners, friends, coworkers, and others, also inhale secondhand smoke.
Smokeless Tobacco Products
The esophagus, mouth, throat, and pancreas can all get cancer from smokeless tobacco products like dipping and chewing tobacco.
Electronic Cigarettes
By heating a liquid that includes flavorings and chemicals, many of which are dangerous, electronic cigarettes create a mist (commonly referred to as a cloud). Nicotine, an addictive substance found in ordinary cigarettes and other tobacco products, is typically present in the liquid. The mist is breathed in by users. This mist can be inhaled by those close. For children, teenagers, pregnant women, and individuals who don't use tobacco products, e-cigarettes are not safe.
Health Disparities
Health disparities are differences between groups of people in their degree of health, the standard of their medical care, how many of them have a certain health issue, and other factors. The groupings of people may vary in terms of age, race, wealth, living in a rural area, or some other factor.
There are some tricks and tips which can help you quit smoking;
● Try nicotine replacement therapy
Ask your healthcare provider about nicotine replacement therapy. The options include; prescription nicotine in a nasal spray or inhaler.Nicotine patches, gum and lozenges you can buy without a prescription. Prescription non-nicotine stop-smoking drugs such as bupropion and varenicline.
● Avoid triggers
Tobacco urges are likely to be strongest in the places where you smoked or chewed tobacco most often, such as parties or bars, or at times when you were feeling stressed or sipping coffee. Find out your triggers and have plan in place to avoid them or getting through them without using tobacco.
● Delay the sensation of smoking.
If you feel like you’re going to give in to your tobacco craving, tell yourself that you must first wait 10 more minutes. Then do something to distract yourself during that time.
● Chew on it
Give your mouth something to do to resist a tobacco craving. Chew on sugarless gum or hard candy. Or raw carrots, nuts or sunflower seeds. Something crunchy and tasty.
● Don’t have ‘just one’
You might be tempted to have just one cigarette to satisfy a tobacco craving.
But don’t fool yourself into thinking that you can stop there.
Thanks Giving
This article is written and submitted to The E Today by Shrushti Mehta.
We thank her for her research and analysis and hope to see the awareness about health and nutrition being spread ahead to larger mass of our citizens.