Dr Rubeena Anjum
Tobacco use kills more than 8 million people around the world each year, a number that is predicted to grow unless anti-tobacco actions are increased.Apart from the causalities caused by tobacco use it also causes many types of cancers, as well as other health problems that include heart disease, stroke and lung diseases.
world No tobacco day
The health risks are known to all but thousands of youth between the age group 12 year to 17 year get indulged in smoking everyday. Smoking can be compared to a double edged sword. It not only affects it’s user but also the people nearby. Second hand smoke contains hundreds of chemicals including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic ammonia and hydrogen cyanide which may cause lung cancer, heart disease, stroke and other disease. For babies exposed to second hand smoke there is an increase change of developing asthma, breathing problems, ear infection, impaired lung development and coughing.
Since 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO) has used World No Tobacco Day to highlight the harmful effects of cigarettes and other tobacco products on a person’s overall health and to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking around the world, and specifically to encourage and support smokers to quit or switch.
WHO urges governments to help tobacco users quit by providing the support, services, policies and tobacco taxes that enable people to quit.Smoke-free policies have the potential to protect non-smokers, including over 65,000 children and adolescents who die every year from exposure to second-hand smoke.
This Year’s Theme “Commit to Quit” focuses on aims to empower 100 million tobacco users to make a quit attempt by creating networks of support and increasing access to services proven to help tobacco users quit successfully.
Quitting can be challenging especially in the time of the pandemic which is serving to be a burden both mentally and economically. When the news came out that smokers were more likely to develop severe disease with COVID-19 compared to non-smokers, it triggered millions of smokers to want to quit tobacco. But without adequate support, quitting can be incredibly challenging.
Currently, over 70% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users worldwide lack access to the tools they need to quit successfully. This gap in access to cessation services is only further exacerbated in the last year as the health workforce has been mobilized to handle the pandemic.
REASONS TO QUIT
* Tobacco kills 8 million people per year
* Tobacco usage breaks the person financially
* Tobacco use threatensit’s host as well as those around them
* Tobacco use impacts the social life of the person
* Tobacco use damages almost every organ of the body
TIPS TO QUIT
* Set a quit date
* Remove tobacco products from your surroundings
* Delay (Try to delay the intervals between smoking)
* Deep breathing (Breathing exercises)
* Drink water(Try to avoid the urge to smoke by drinking water)
* Keeps yourself distracted / busy
(Develop a hobby, listen to music, watch videos,)
* Take support from friends and family
* Mobile phone support (Mobile Apps like Quit Genius andQuitnow have the potential to help tobacco users quit successfully)
* Reward yourself.
* Plan a daily routine
Beneficial Health Changes after quitting according to World Health Organization:
* Within 20 minutes: Heart rate and blood pressure drop.
* 12 hours: Carbon monoxide level in the blood drops to normal.
* 2-12 weeks: Improvement in circulation and lung function.
* 1-9 months:Symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
* 1 year:Risk of coronary heart disease is about half that of a smoker’s.
* 5 years:Risk of stroke starts to reduce
* 10 years: Risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker and also the risk of cancer of the oral cavity, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decreases.
* 15 years:Risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker.
(The author is working as Professor and Head of Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology & Oral Microbiology, Indira Gandhi Govt. Dental College, Jammu.)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Follow our WhatsApp channel
