YOUR QUERIES RELATED TO SMOKING ANSWERED!
Smoking is burning tobacco which contains many chemicals that are harmful to smokers and non-smokers. Inhaling even small amounts of tobacco smoke can be extremely harmful.
Out of more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia.
From them, 250 known harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 69 can cause cancer.
We really shouldn’t question any further because it is crystal clear that Smoking can kill a person. But still, we’re going to answer a few frequently asked questions about smoking down below.
WHY DO PEOPLE START SMOKING?
Most people who smoke tobacco start during their teenage years and there are many reasons for that.
- For some teens, it is a way to go against their parents.
- Some teens may feel pressure from their friends and begin smoking as a way to appear “cool”.
- Some may be following a parent’s or sibling’s behaviour
- Some start to believe it is a way to relieve stress or boredom.
Other reasons for people to start smoking can be:
- Occasional smoking connects to your day-to-day life and eventually becomes a part of a pattern or routine.
- Many people smoke because it’s a way they’ve learned to survive with post-traumatic stress disorder.
WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF SMOKING?
Smoking is the biggest cause of avoidable deaths in England, accounting for nearly 80,000 deaths each year!
One in two smokers will die from a smoking-related illness. Every 15 cigarettes you smoke will cause a mutation in your body and mutations are how cancers start.
Smoking affects your:
- Brain
Smoking can increase risks of strokes by increasing the chances of you developing a brain aneurysm. This is a knot in a blood vessel caused by weakness in the blood vessel wall. The rupture of this will lead to an extremely serious condition known as subarachnoid haemorrhage and can cause extensive brain damage and death.
- Heart
Smoking damages the heart and the blood circulation which increases the risk of conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, peripheral vascular disease and cerebrovascular disease.
- Lungs
The lungs can also be very badly affected by smoking. Coughs, colds, wheezing and asthma. Smoking can cause fatal diseases as well such as pneumonia, emphysema and lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Stomach
Smokers have a higher chance of getting stomach cancer or ulcers.
- Mouth and throat
Smoking causes ugly problems, such as bad breath and stained teeth, gum disease, damage your sense of taste and can lead to oral thrush.
The gravest damage smoking causes in your mouth and throat is an increased risk of cancer in your lips, tongue, throat, voice box and oesophagus.
- Reproduction and fertility
Smoking can cause male impotence, as it damages the blood vessels that supply blood to the penis. For women, smoking can reduce fertility.
- Smoking also damages the skin by making it dull and pale.
- Bones are also damaged by smoking and they become weak and brittle.
DOES SMOKING RELIEVES STRESS?
Research into smoking and stress has shown that instead of helping with stress, smoking increases anxiety and tension. In the UK, smoking rates among adults with depression are about twice as high as among adults without depression.
HOW CAN WE PREVENT TEENAGE SMOKING?
There are ways to prevent teenage smoking
- Set a good example
- Understand the attraction, don’t pressurize your teen. It can be because of peer pressure or any stress.
- Talk to them in detail about the harm it can do to them
- Give them a safer alternative which is vaping. It is 95% less harmful.
ARE MENTHOL CIGARETTES LESS HARMFUL?
The answer is NO! Menthol only adds to the flavour of the cigarettes. It does not make cigarettes any less hazardous.
Menthol cigarettes may even be more unsafe. The added menthol produces a cooling impression in the throat when the smoke is inhaled. It decreases the cough reflex and covers the dry feeling in the throat that smokers often have. Smokers who smoke menthol cigarettes can breathe in deeper and hold the smoke in longer.
Final note
Smoking is nothing good. It just harms your body like a quiet killer, we must understand that our life is in a serious threat just because of this deadly habit.
It will be good if we switch to a healthier alternative which is vaping and it has been proven to be 95% safer. E-cigarettes don’t burn e-liquids instead they just vaporize them whereas, smoking burns tobacco.
We need to stop smoking before anything else because,
If you could see the damage, you'd stop right away.