Dr. Sushil Kumar Sharma
The growing popularity of tobacco smoking appears to defy rational explanation. Tobacco users generally acknowledge the harm they are doing to themselves and many report that they do not enjoy it – yet they continue to use tobacco in one form or another. Progress is being made in many countries in reducing tobacco prevalence but it remains one of the main causes of ill health and premature death worldwide. In order to raise awareness on the negative impact that tobacco has on people’s health, every year, on 31 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) and global partners celebrate World No Tobacco Day (WNTD). The campaign also serves as a call to action, advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption and engaging stakeholders across multiple sectors in the fight for tobacco control. Each year, the WHO selects a theme for the day in order to create a more unified global message for WNTD. This theme then becomes the central component of the WHO’s tobacco-related agenda for the following year. The WHO oversees the creation and distribution of publicity materials related to the theme, including brochures, fliers, posters, websites, and press releases.Gauging the global implications caused by the tobacco use on sustainable development, encompassing the health and economic well-being of citizens in all countries, this year WNTD theme is “Tobacco and lung health.”
World No Tobacco Day 2019
Tobacco use is a threat to any person, regardless of gender, age, race, cultural or educational background. It brings suffering, disease, and death, impoverishing families and national economics.
Tobacco is leading cause of death, illness and impoverishment
The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing more than 7 million people a year. More than 6 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 890 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.Around 80% of the 1.1 billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.
Tobacco users who die prematurely deprive their families of income, raise the cost of health care and hinder economic development.
In some countries, children from poor households are frequently employed in tobacco farming to provide family income. These children are especially vulnerable to “green tobacco sickness”, which is caused by the nicotine that is absorbed through the skin from the handling of wet tobacco leaves.
Harmful effects of Smoking
Cancer is not the only disease caused by smoking. Smoking also causes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and worsens asthma. Cigarette smoking substantially increases the risk of coronary heart disease, including stroke, heart attack, aneurysm and vascular disease. It also contributes to peptic ulcers, varicose veins, osteoporosis, periodontal disease, Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, allergies, and impotence. The bottom line is that continuing to smoke puts you at risk of contracting a serious, life-threatening illness. If you contract any one of the diseases listed above, your quality of life will deteriorate and you will shorten your life span. In addition, smoking is a leading cause of cancers of the mouth, tongue, throat, larynx (voice box), esophagus, stomach, pancreas, cervix, kidney, ureter, and bladder.
Benefits of Smoking Cessation
The aim of a stop smoking intervention with patients from any group is to encourage and enable the patients to make health enhancing behavior changes for themselves. This may involve work on motivation,skill building and confidence building, It will certainly demand the best of communication skills.
The short-term benefits of quitting smoking include the following:
* 20 minutes after quitting, heart rate and blood pressure drop.
* 2 hours after quitting, the amount of nicotine in the bloodstream will drop by half.
* 8 hours after quitting, there will be more oxygen in the blood.
* 12 hours after quitting, the carbon monoxide level in the blood drops to normal.
* 72 hours after quitting, breathing becomes easier and bronchial tubes begin to relax.
* 2 to 12 weeks after quitting, circulation improves and lung function increases.
* 1 to 9 months after quitting, coughing and shortness of breath decrease. Cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) start to regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
The long -term benefits of quitting smoking include the following:
At one year, you have halved your risk of coronary heart disease. By two to five years, your risk of stroke is now the same as a non-smoker, and at five years you have halved your risk of mouth, throat, oesophageal and bladder cancer.
By 10 years, your risk of dying from lung cancer is half that of a current smoker, and your risk of developing kidney and pancreatic cancers decreases.
Key Message: Save your heart and avoid the Smoke
Quitting smoking is one of the best things you can do for yourself. You’ll feel better, you’ll look better, and your health will be better Smoking damages the heart and blood vessels very quickly, but the damage is repaired quickly for most smokers who stop smoking. Even long-time smokers can see rapid health improvements when they quit. Within a year, heart attack risk drops dramatically. Within five years, most smokers cut their risk of stroke to nearly that of a nonsmoker. So, the only proven strategy to keep your heart safe from the effects of smoking is to quit. Let’s take a pledge on this day to reaffirm our commitment to reduce the menace of tobacco consumption by taking robust tobacco control measures. Any step toward this direction not only contain the tobacco consumption for improved health outcome but also helpful in alleviating poverty and prevent environmental degradation.
(The author is Head Deptt of Cardiology GMCH, Jammu)
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