Quit it now
Without smoking you can live a longer, healthier life
HEALTH FIRST BY DR. FAIZ FAZILI
Anti-smoking day was observed on May 31. But it leaves lessons for us to think about.
Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health. Despite this statutory warning inscribed on the wrappings of every cigarette packet, people do smoke-warranting a further need to renew motivation and attention towards smoking harms. How much will a child cry- when he is told his dear one will die. How can one be happy knowing there's nothing one can do that time. We are all educated. There must be something that can be done. We can launch some simplest, and possibly the cheapest antismoking campaigns. We can help create smoke-free work places offices and restaurants and reprimand violators. Our local administrators have risen to the occasion by issuing strict warnings against public smoking.
Cigarette smoke is a combination of many kinds. `Main-stream' smoke - the smoke inhaled by a smoker; `side-stream' smoke - the smoke from the end of a lit cigarette; second-hand smoke - the smoke exhaled by a smoker plus side stream smoke. No one can deny the harm of smoking to the human body. See what is in one puff. Cigarette smoke is a mixture of over 4000 chemicals, many of which are harmful to the human body. More than 60 have been identified as cancer causing chemicals. The hazards of smoking to the health are well established. Cancer, heart attacks, asthma, coughing, premature birth, infertility, infections in the digestive system, high blood pressure, nervousness, mouth and teeth diseases, etc. are among the many health hazards that have been strongly linked to smoking. These diseases may not appear all at once, however a smoker is most likely to suffer from some of them, and his suffering increases as he grows older. Furthermore, statistics have established that smoker's age is, on the average, ten years less than the normal. The people who are in close contact with smokers should know the chemicals present in mainstream, sidestream and second-hand smoke are similar; however, the quantities of the various chemicals present differ.
Castoff smoke contains twice as much tar and nicotine, three times as much of a certain kind of benzopyrene (a suspected cancer agent), five times as much carbon monoxide (which robs the blood of life-giving oxygen), and forty-six times as much ammonia as the smoke the smoker inhales (U.S. Dept of Health, Education and Welfare). Over 3 million people worldwide die from smoking-related causes each year, 900,000 people every year in India, and unless corrective action is taken soon that number will increase to 1 million smoking-related deaths annually by 2010 (NEJM).
Tobacco was discovered by the Spanish sailors on the American shores at about 1500 CE (900 AH). Since its discovery, the epidemic of smoking has continued to spread all over the world. In our times, one seldom finds a house not afflicted by it. Impact of Anti Smoking Program is positive--The beginning was in January 1979, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia submitted in the 6th Health Ministers’ Council Conference – a working paper on combating smoking in the GCC states. The paper involved many programs : to prohibit smoking in the health and educational establishments, to increase health education about the health hazards of smoking and prevent advertisements on tobacco in the media. Today the rate of smokers has declined considerably in the Holy cities of Makakh al Mukarrama and Madinah al Munawarah following a ban to sell cigarettes in these places, a motivating factor for pilgrims to take bold initiative for stopping smoking during pilgrimage.
A frequently asked question of smokers to doctor is `will there be any health benefits if I quit now?’’. As smokers, we learn early on to put up a mental wall of denial between our smoking habit and the harsh reality of the damage we're inflicting on ourselves with every cigarette smoked. We all have the ability to find lasting freedom from nicotine addiction. Take your life back- join any smoking clinic. Quitting smoking is the best thing most smokers can do to improve and protect their health –the sooner the better. Quit it now. What are you waiting for.
