Tobacco & Smoking
Smoking is a huge problem worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that there are approximately 1.1 billion regular smokers in the world, which is one-third of the global population aged 15 years and older. Globally, roughly 47 percent of men and 12 percent of women smoke. In recent years tobacco use has been declining in many countries in North America and Western Europe but increasing in many others, especially in Asia (and in Pakistan).
Cigarette smoking men have a 70% higher death rate than non-smokers. About half of regular cigarette smokers will eventually die because of smoking.
It is important to realize that smoking is not just a habit. Smoking and Tobacco use is an addiction. Nicotine present in cigarette smoke is an addictive drug. There are clear withdrawal effects of Nicotine such as craving for tobacco products, depressed mood, sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness and increased appetite. Apart from addiction to nicotine there are other influences on smoking behavior such as level of acceptance of smoking in the home, among friends, in the workplace and there is also a significant effect of advertising on smoking behavior. Cigarette smoke contains a number of chemicals, which cause cancer or are toxic. Cigarette smoke contains Tar, aromatic hydrocarbons, phenol, b-napthylamine, nitrosamines, hydrazine and vinyl chloride which cause cancer. It also contains carbon monoxide which decreases oxygen and Nicotine which is a stimulant.
To understand how smoking kills people let us look at the diseases cigarette smoking causes.
Heart: Cigarette smoking is a major cause of Heart attacks. Heart attack death rates are 60-70% greater in male smokers than non-smokers. There is an increased risk of Strokes among smokers and 15% of deaths due to strokes are due to smoking.
Lung Cancer: The most important cause of Lung cancer is Cigarette Smoking. The fact that cigarette smoking causes Lung Cancer was described in 1950. Hence we have known for more than half a century that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. Men who smoke one pack a day increase their risk of lung cancer ten fold compared with non-smokers. Men who smoke two packs per day increase their risk 25 times to non-smokers. Other cancers caused by cigarette smoking are throat cancer, cancer of the esophagus, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, stomach cancer and cancer of the pancreas.
Lung disease: Cigarette smoking causes Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema in which the lung gets progressively destroyed leading to severe difficulty in breathing and breathing failure. Increased respiratory infections and death from pneumonia occur in smokers.
Other effects of smoking are early facial wrinkling, thinning of the bones in women and stomach ulcers. In addition smoking can cause sleep disturbances and depression. Smokers do not only jeopardize their own health but they affect the health of non-smokers near them. This is Passive smoking also called involuntary smoking or second-hand smoking. There can be major adverse effects of the health of non-smokers who inhale smoke unintentionally or involuntarily if they are in the vicinity of smokers. Passive smoking can cause lung cancer in non-smokers and can cause heart disease. Exposing an infant to second hand smoke greatly increases the child’s risk of asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis and fluid in the middle ear.
Smokeless Tobacco such as chewing Tobacco in ‘Pan’ is not safe either. Smokeless tobacco has same nicotine as cigarettes. Smokeless tobacco contains many cancer-causing chemicals that are held in the mouth for several minutes at a time. Smokeless tobacco can cause cancer of the mouth, cheeks, gums, and throat. It is important that Smokers stop smoking through education and counseling. In addition there are various products now available to help smokers quit smoking. These are Nicotine in various forms such as gum and skin patches that can help with the initial craving for tobacco when smoking is stopped. In addition there are two drugs Bupropion and Varenicline that can now be prescribed and help smokers stop smoking. Key policy areas to curtail and prevent smoking are policies promoting clean indoor air. Reducing and preferable eliminating tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. Other measures such as raising the price of tobacco products are effective measures to discourage smoking. Decreasing or eliminating youth’s access to tobacco products and increasing government regulation of the tobacco industry would go far in reducing smoking and its lethal effects.
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