Say No To Smoking for health
The relationship between cigarette
smoking and the development of many serious diseases is becoming clearer. This
has led to an increase in inquiries in the health community and mental health.
WHO considers an addiction to snuff dependence?
Such dependence, as well as many others, must be addressed properly, because
nicotine can control some important aspects of a person's behavior.
Like other euphoric substances
(alcohol and cocaine), on snuff is able to produce effects that enter into the
mood of the person and their deprivation triggers search behavior of the
substance.
The cigarette smokers have a
significantly reduced life expectancy compared to the rest of the population.
Some authors have estimated that 5.5 minutes of life lost per cigarette has been
smoked. In 30 - 35 years of age who smokes two packs a day, life expectancy
decreased from 8 to 9 years compared to a nonsmoker the same age.
Effect
in Human
It
has not been widely established, unlike other addictions, which smoking causes
serious psychological disturbances, apart from the impulse or need to consume
and how hard it is abandoned.
Cigarette
smoke contains lots of toxic substances, including carbon monoxide (CO). CO has
high affinity for hemoglobin, red blood cell component that carries oxygen to
the tissues, so that red blood cells of smokers lose 15% of the oxygen carrying
capacity. This can injure the heart and circulatory system. Can be found also
other gases such as nitrous oxide and hydrogen oxide, responsible for cough and
restrict the flow of air through the bronchi.
Tar
is a carcinogen that causes absolute and encourages the development of various
tumors.
Nicotine
produces an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output and oxygen
consumption in the tissues.
The
risk of lung cancer is 10 times higher in a smoker, and heavy smokers (2 or
more packs per day) the risk is 15 to 25 times higher.
The
children of smoking mothers weigh less at birth compared to infants of
nonsmokers.
Treatment
Currently
there are a variety of interventions to help the smoker to quit their habit,
many of whom have better long-term, between 6 and 12 months. Numerous studies
have demonstrated that treatment approaches that incorporate behavior change of
the person are those that offer a greater chance of success.
Lately
it has incorporated the use of nicotine replacement therapies in the form of
gums and patches.
For
treatment to be effective must be met in three stages: • Commitment to quit and
setting goals. • Initial change: mainstay of treatment includes group therapy,
nicotine replacement, behavioral management techniques and relaxation,
individual follow-up, etc.. • Maintenance of quitting: mainly ready to face the
withdrawal symptoms, as many of those who relapse have at least one symptom of
nicotine withdrawal
The
latter is very important because it is responsible for 70% of those who quit
falls in the same year.
History
of Smoking
The
first Europeans who came to America found that the Indians smoked a pipe leaves
snuff, and introduced the practice in Europe in the mid-sixteenth century.
Almost all the snuff was consumed in pipes, cigars or as snuff. This pattern
changed in the early twentieth century, when every smoker had been consuming more
than one thousand cigarettes a year. The general attitude of society was that
the tension eased snuff and had no ill effects. During World War II doctors
recommended sending cigarettes to the soldiers, so it was included in batches
of rations.
However,
epidemiologists were quick to note that lung cancer, rare before the twentieth
century, had increased considerably in the early 1930's. Some organizations
initiated studies comparing the deaths of smokers with non-smokers over a
period of several years, either to die of cancer or other causes. Furthermore,
experimental animal studies showed that many of the chemicals in cigarette
smoke are carcinogenic. In 1962, the U.S. government chose a group of ten
scientists to analyze the evidence available to them. Their findings were
included in the annual report on health in 1964, which stated that
"smoking is a health hazard of sufficient importance to justify the need
for appropriate remedial actions."
The
first step taken in 1964 was to include a warning on cigarette packs. This
warning was reinforced in 1969 to read as follows: "Health authorities
warn that the snuffs seriously damage your health." Since 1971 banned all
cigarette advertising on radio and television. In the 1970 and 1980 several
cities and states passed laws requiring spaces reserved for non-smokers in
public places and work. In February 1990 a federal law banned smoking on all
domestic flights whose duration is less than six hours. In Europe the situation
was similar including the warning on cigarette packs that smoking is harmful to
health and banning smoking in public places. These measures are aimed at
eradicating this habit as bad.
The
risks of passive smoking
Passive
smoking is a person who does not smoke, but is forced to breathe air laden with
snuff smoke in enclosed spaces (offices, public places or at home). The
so-called "secondhand smoke" includes two types of smoke exhaled by
the smoker and the cigarette that usually when qualm. Ester mixture contains
over 4,500 chemicals of which over 40 are known to cause cancer in humans or
animals and many are strong irritants. The secondhand smoke is also called
snuff environmental smoke, and exposure to it is called involuntary smoking or
passive smoking.
It
is estimated that a person who breathes the smoke present in an environment
where smoking takes damage equivalent to smoking one cigarette per hour. The
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) has classified secondhand smoke as a
known cause of lung cancer in humans (Group A carcinogen). The agency estimates
that the United States, passive smoking causes about three thousand deaths
annually from cancer in nonsmokers.
Exposure
to secondhand smoke irritates the nose, eyes and throat. Also can irritate the
lungs, resulting in coughing, excess phlegm, chest discomfort and reduced lung
function. The secondhand smoke can affect the cardiovascular system. A person
who is married to a smoker has a 30 percent increased risk of developing lung
cancer than a person living with a nonsmoker.
Children
at risk
The
secondhand smoke is a serious risk to child health. Exposure to secondhand
smoke seriously affects the lungs of young children that are under development.
Among the most seriously affected by this exposure are infants and young
children of smoking parents, for whom an increased risk of infections, lower
respiratory system, such as pneumonia and bronchitis, increased hospitalizations
annually. It also increases the possibility that these children suffer a
decline in lung function and symptoms of respiratory irritation like cough,
excess phlegm and asthmatic breathing. It can also cause middle ear infection,
the most common cause of infant surgical ward.
Asthmatic
children are especially at risk. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of
them suffer episodes and increased symptom severity and that many patients get
worse due to secondhand smoke. Also it may be the cause of thousands of
children without asthma, the contract every year.
Another
risk to consider is the passive intoxication of the fetus when a pregnant woman
smokes but does not live with smokers. This issue is so important that in some
countries, smoking is prohibited in places where there is a pregnant.
Message
to the smoker
It
is now difficult to be a smoker. As the public becomes aware that smoking poses
a danger not only for him but for others, people who do not smoke, they begin
to speak more frankly and smokers are proving a group disapproved.
If
you choose to smoke, here are some things you can do to protect those around
him:
- Do not smoke around children. His lungs are very susceptible to smoke.
- If you are pregnant, stop smoking.
- Become active in the development of smoking policy in your company. Encourage
the establishment of smoking cessation programs for those interested.
- Keep your home smoke free. Because smoke lingers in the air, can expose them if
they are not present when you smoke.
- If you must smoke inside, limit yourself to do it in a ventilated room with
windows open.
- Submit your home tested for radon. Radon contamination in combination with the
smoke produced by smoking is a much bigger risk to health than each alone.
- Do not smoke in a car with the windows closed with passengers.
The
high concentration of smoke in a small, closed compartment substantially
increases the exposure of other passengers.
Many
people quit smoking; most of them fail on their own, without the help of a
program or medication. But if not, there is help.
It
may be that your employer will offer a treatment, or ask your doctor.
In
the house:
- Do not smoke in your home, or allow others to do so.
- If a family member insists on smoking indoors, increase ventilation of the
place where people smoke. Open windows or use exhaust smoke.
- Do not smoke around children, especially infants and preschool children, as
they are especially susceptible to the effects of smoke snuff.
Where
children:
- Do not allow babysitters or others working in your home to smoke indoors or
near their children.
- Find out the rules for smoking who cares for her children during the day,
babysitters, day care, school, among others.
- Help other parents understand the serious health risk to the child by
secondhand smoke. Work with your parent-teacher associations, your school
board, community leaders and other citizens interested in getting the child's
environment smoke-free.
What
to do at work?
We
recommend that every company has a smoking policy that effectively protects
nonsmokers from involuntary exposure to tobacco snuff. Many companies and
organizations already have standards in place but their effectiveness varies.
Simply separating smokers from nonsmokers, and in the cafeteria, you can reduce
exposure, but even so, the latter will be exposed to re-circulated smoke or
seeping to places of no smoking.
Two
options to effectively protect non-smokers are:
- Prohibiting smoking indoors or limit it to rooms especially designed, thus
preventing smoke from escaping to other parts of the building.
- The costs of establishing rooms designed for this purpose vary according to the
building and possibly more costly to eliminate smoking completely.
If
smoking is permitted inside a building should occur in a room that meets
certain conditions. The air in the smoking room must be taken directly to the
outside by an exhaust fan. Do not continue to circulate in other parts of the
building. It is necessary that the amount of air that is removed from the room
is greater than the amount received, ensuring that secondhand smoke does not
leak to the nearby places.
The
smoking cessation programs sponsored by companies form part of any general rule
for smoking. If smoking is permitted in designated areas outdoors, they should
not be placed near the doors (or near air intakes of the ventilation system)
where nonsmokers are forced to cross the smoke of smokers congregating around
doors. Some companies have installed outdoor locations with shelters and
ashtrays for the convenience of the smoker. With these measures the company
will be protected from potential lawsuits from employees who do not smoke,
which would otherwise be affected by pollution from smoking.
Smoking
and its consequences
Why
quit?
What
are the physical benefits?
What do to quit smoking?
Why
smoking is considered an addiction?
Among
the substances contained in cigarette nicotine is present, which is responsible
for producing drug addiction.
When
smoked, nicotine enters the circulation and reaches the brain. Blood levels of
the substance halve in the first 30 minutes and this partly explains the need
for frequent whistle smoker. The body develops tolerance to nicotine and then
it takes more and more cigarettes to achieve the same effect.
Why
people start smoking?
People
start smoking, usually in adolescence, for several reasons:
- Peer
pressure: Many people, especially young people, care about their appearance, do
not want to be different, if their friends smoke they should also smoke to feel
accepted.
- Misleading
advertising messages: magazines, television, radio, etc., make people believe
that smoking is beneficial and that they will see better smoking.
- Insecurity:
Some people choose to smoke to try to feel relaxed or when they are with other
people.
- Concern
about body weight: many people smoke because they mistakenly believe that if
you leave a lot of weight increase.
What
is the health problems related to smoking?
There
is evidence that smoking causes specific health risks:
- It
Smoking
creates addiction to nicotine.
- It decreased sense of smell and taste.
- Low
physical ability, headaches, contractions, cough, asthma, frequent colds and
bronchitis.
- Osteoporosis,
early menopause, wrinkles, impotence.
- In
pregnancy, increased fetal death, premature labor, low birth weight and sudden
infant death syndrome in infants
- Atherosclerosis
and vascular disease: angina, myocardial infarction, hypertension,
aneurysm, stroke.
- Diseases
of the mouth and teeth including oral cancer.
- Other
types of cancer: breast, cervix, lung, bladder, kidney and pancreas.
What
are the physical benefits if you quit smoking?
- In
the early days of the body improves oxygenation and less fatigue, and headache contractual and more physical ability.
- In
the first weeks improves the taste, smell, texture of the skin and decrease
asthma, bronchitis and colds.
- In
the first months reduces greatly the risk of vascular problems such as heart
rate and brain, improve emphysema and chronic bronchitis and can improve sex
life.
- In
the early years, and increasingly, reduces the risk of cancer by smoking and
improving osteoporosis.
- In
pregnancy, the risk to the fetus and newborn decreases greatly.
How
dangerous is passive smoking?
- Nonsmokers
who breathe tobacco smoke regularly (at home or at work) have specific health
risks including:
- Increased
risk of lung cancer, emphysema and heart attack is more than other people who
are passive smokers.
- In
children increases the frequency of bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma and sudden
infant death.
How
to quit?
Quitting
smoking is a physical and mental task. The person must be prepared and be
convinced to want to try to leave for their benefits. Some motivations to quit
are as important as an example to children and grandchildren, increase
(regardless of age) physical performance, not depending on the cigarette,
prevent disease, avoid pregnancy problems, save money, etc..
Tips
for quitting:
- Think
about why you want to quit.
- Select
a date to quit smoking (does not leave "little by little").
- Ask
for support from family, friends and coworkers.
- Eat
a balanced, drink plenty of water and not drink alcohol to excess.
- Do
things that enhance stress (exercise yoga, recreation, etc.)