I Enjoy Smoking So Why Should I Quit? A Few Things You Didnt Know
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This isn’t going to be one of those articles that preaches (well, that’s not my intention anyway) and I’m sure that you are already au fait with the dangers that smoking brings. But I reckon that there are still quite a few of you out there that think that by eating a healthy diet and getting some good and regular exercise, that you can be healthy even though you still smoke.
The message that ’smoking is bad for you’ is an old one, so not everyone gives it much attention anymore. Here, however, is a list of some of the facts and figures that are not so well known about the health risks of smoking:
Cigarettes contain more than 4000 chemical compounds of which at least 400 are toxic substances, how can you knowingly suck that into your face?? When you inhale, a cigarette burns at 700 degrees C at the tip and around 60 degrees C in the core. This heat breaks down the tobacco to produce various toxins. As a cigarette burns, the residues are concentrated towards the butt, so you get the full dose of toxins as you finish your cigarette.
The products that are most damaging are:
1) Tar, a carcinogen (substance that causes cancer)
2) The addictive substance is nicotine, which raises cholesterol too
3) The oxygen in your body is reduced by carbon monoxide
The problems caused by smoking can be influenced by:
1) How many cigarettes you smoke
2) Whether the cigarette has a filter or not
3) How has the tobacco been prepared
It has been shown that life expectancy can be improved by as much as seven or eight years if you do not smoke, but not only that, recent research has shown that if you continue smoking from a young age, people are dying of smoking related illnesses at much younger ages.
The number of people under the age of 70 who die from smoking-related diseases exceeds the total figure for deaths caused by breast cancer, AIDS, traffic accidents and drug addiction.
I know you’re all going to shout, ah c’mon at this one, but the ugly truth is this…if you started smoking at an early age, smoke more than 20 a day and inhale deeply, the greater your chances of getting lung cancer. It then takes roughly 15 years for your risk of getting lung cancer to drop to that of a non smoker.
Also if you smoke, the risk of contracting mouth cancer is four times higher than for a non-smoker. Cancer can start in many areas of the mouth, with the most common being on or underneath the tongue, or on the lips. Many smokers are not aware of the increased risk of getting these cancers. Smoking is the most common cause of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and is responsible for 80 per cent of cases.
Emphysema is also a disease caused by long-term smoking, and here are a couple of scary numbers for you. If you smoke 20 a day, when you die and your lungs are examined, you will have a 94 percent chance of there being emphysema present. As a non smoker, however, that percentage drops to 90 who have little or no emphysema at all.
Lung fuction declines naturally with age, but when combined with smoking it drops about three times faster, and then breathlessness begins. Severe cases can end up on permanent oxygen before dying a slow and painful death from being unable to breathe.
And now one especially for the guys…did you know that smoking can affect your favourite person…yes, I am talking about mini-you! Men in their 30s and 40s can begin to suffer from erectile dysfunction because smoking can cause damage to blood vessels in various parts of your body. If the vessels are not functioning well in the penis, the blood cannot get there to do it’s job. Nicotine narrows those arteries…that should give you something to think about!
I can’t stress this enough, but this a serious problem for you guys out there, not only for the obvious reason (as I’m sure you are with me there…). If you are a smoker and begin to have problems achieving or maintaining an erection you should go and see your doctor. A problem with the blood vessels in the penis could also mean that damage has been done to vessels in other parts of the body too.
If all this isn’t enough for you, then I’m going to get down and dirty…it’s guilt trip time. Did you know that the smoke that you do not inhale, the stuff that is released by your cigarette between puffs, carries an even higher risk than the smoke that you inhale. Think about what that means for your partner, kids, non smoking friends, etc,…
Kids that grow up in a home with smoking parents are far more likely to have asthma and asthmatic bronchitis. The risk of having generalised allergies is much higher too. Younger babies and toddlers can have chest infections and even cot death.
Passive smoking has also been widely documented and the link between that and lung cancer is pretty well established, although the link between passive smoking and heart disease is not conclusive. What you can be sure of though, is that as a non smoker or an ex smoker, you can look forward towards a happier and healthier old age.
The message after all of this (and you must be a little bit interested if you’re still with me) is that there are people around who care about you, and programmes out there that can help you to quit. So do it for you (and for me)…stop smoking now!
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