Don't you love your family? Don't you want to live long and healthy for your children? If yes, then quit smoking!
According to Karen Ahijevych a famous Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs over 47 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes or about 1 in every 4 adults. There are also about 4 million youth aged 12 to 17 who are smokers. Aren't these figures astounding???
The 1982 United States Surgeon General's Report stated that "Cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer mortality in the United States." This statement is as true today as it was in 1982. As cigarette smoking and tobacco use are acquired behaviors -- activities that people choose to do -- smoking is the most preventable cause of premature death in our society. So quit smoking before it's too late. It is a silent but deadly killer.
Take a look at this video which shows the effects of smoking...
Major diseases causes by smoking are as we know cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, pulmonary disease just to name a small number of them!
Cardiovascular disease: Dr. Paul Calafiore, renowned Cardiologist stated that around 13% of cardiovascular disease deaths are due to smoking. Cardiovascular disease is a combination of variety of disease processes related to the functioning of the heart and the circulatory system. Whenever a person smokes a cigarette, the chemicals in cigarette smoke, particularly nicotine and carbon monoxide, damage the cardiovascular system.
Nicotine causes both immediate and longer term increases in blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output and coronary blood flow, just to name a few. Carbon monoxide binds to the hemoglobin (the blood), which is what normally carries oxygen from the lungs via the bloodstream, and therefore reduces the amount of oxygen reaching body tissues. Smoking also makes blood vessels and blood cells sticky, allowing cholesterol and other dangerous fatty material to build up inside them.
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This is called atherosclerosis and can lead to raised blood pressure and clot formation. A blood clot in the arteries supplying the heart can lead to a heart attack. The vessels to the brain can become blocked, which can lead to collapse, stroke and paralysis. If the kidney arteries are affected it can lead to kidney failure. And if all that doesn't put you off smoking then l do not know what will!
Lung Cancer: Lung cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. This growth may lead to metastasis, which means cells are growing uncontrollably and "attack" tissues nearby not just those found in the lungs. A series of authoritative reports by the U.S. Public Health Service and other international scientific organizations has conclusively documented a underlying relationship between cigarette smoking and cancer.
Researchers in America have found the molecular evidence that is linking to a specific compound in the cigarettes, which is directly linked to cigarette smoking. For those of us with a chemistry mind, the name of the compound is benzopyrene.
It is present in the tar of the cigarette which damages a gene which is known to suppress the tumor development (a gene called "p53"). There is evidence that p53 gene is damaged in about 60% of individuals suffering from lung cancer. Can you believe that one person dies of lung cancer almost every 15 minutes in the UK!
The more you smoke the more you get prone to lung cancer and other types of cancers like bladder, oesophagus, kidneys, pancreas and even cervical cancer. It's quite a list isn't it? Once you smoke the threat of mouth cancer is also there, as cigarettes are made of more than 60 chemicals that are known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).
COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease): Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease in which the lungs are damaged, making it hard to breathe. Most people with COPD are smokers or former smokers.
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COPD typically starts between the ages of 35 and 45 when lung function starts to decline anyway. Cigarette smoking is the most significant risk factor of COPD as the lung function tends to worsen much more rapidly.
The best way for a smoker to prevent COPD is to quit smoking as soon as possible. If you quit before serious COPD develops, your lung function rate of decline almost returns to normal over time. |
Burgers Disease: Burgers disease leads to a painful sensation in the limbs and extremities, as one walks or moves about. After some time one gets cramps and pains in such a way that one cannot walk or do anything and has to take rest. The time difference gradually gets minimized and pain is felt even when one rests, due to lack of blood supply. In severe cases limbs and/or fingers need to be removed as the blood supply to this area is cut off. There is no cure for this, once someone has Burgers Disease.
Other Health problems: There is a very long list some of them include gum diseases, cataracts, bone thinning, hip fractures, and stress and peptic ulcers. Smoking during pregnancy can harm her unborn baby.
Cigarettes kill more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined. The good news is that the risk of having lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses can be reduced if you stop smoking.
It is never too late. So try your best, never give up even if you do not succeed the first time, be strong and promise yourself not to smoke in order to make your and dear one's life beautiful and worth living.
All the Best!!
(Sources: netwellness.org, statehealthfacts.org, italianmedia.com.au,hc-sc.gc.ca, info.cancerresearchuk.org, netdoctor.co.uk)
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