SMOKING: A SLOW AND SILENT BUT SURE KILLER.

December 14, 2016

SMOKING: A SLOW AND SILENT BUT SURE KILLER.

I have always tried to understand the reason why people smoke. No matter what they say, it is always unreasonable. The dire health consequences of smoking greatly overwhelm whatever pleasure or contentment the activity offers. For goodness sake, I wonder what gratification could possibly be derived from deliberately inhaling deadly smoke through one’s mouth by means of a cigarette or other apparatus such as pipe and hookah which costs money to procure, suspending the deadly smoke in one’s body for an awful length of time, only to bring it out again and release it into the atmosphere. Absolutely ridiculous!

“Smokers are liable to die young.” That’s even what tobacco companies say. They are the producers of the killer substance. They hang this unambiguous warning on large bill boards on our streets to obviate them from any ensuing liability that may result from the use of their products so that people will be presumed to know what they are purchasing and the dangers involved. Even so, smokers, in total neglect and dogged persistence, prefer to participate in the suicidal activity.

Smoking is a slow and silent but sure killer. The smoke smokers inhale with their mouth is enormously dangerous to human health. According to the American Lung Association, cigarettes contain about 600 ingredients which generates more than 7 000 chemicals as they burn. Many of those chemicals are poisonous and at least 69 of them can cause cancer. Of course, asides cancer, there are many other health implications associated with smoking.

Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable death among human beings. According to a research carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mortality rate for smokers is three times that of people who never smoked.

Know this then that there is never a good side to smoking and there is no safe way to smoke. Replacing a cigarette with a cigar, pipe or hookah will not help avoid the health risks associated with smoking. As a matter of fact, when using a hookah pipe, smokers are likely to inhale more smoke than they would from a cigarette. Hookah smoke has many toxic compounds and exposes one to more carbon monoxide than cigarettes do. Hookahs also produce more secondhand smoke.

The effects of smoking on the body are numerous. I would so much like to bring them all to your awareness to expose the enormous danger it causes to our bodies. However, I am afraid I cannot because; most people do not like to read much. Besides, I do not intend to write a book. Nonetheless, I will briefly discuss some very important ones.

Effects of Smoking on the Central Nervous System

Part of what people smoke contains nicotine. Nicotine is a mood- altering drug which when ingested, reaches the brain in mere seconds. It is a central nervous system stimulant so it makes one feel more energized for a little while. However, as the effect subsides, one begins to feel tired and crave more. Thus, nicotine is habit forming. It has the tendency to make its user addictive in nature so this explains why smokers become addicts.

Smoking increases the risk of macular degeneration, cataracts, and poor eyesight. It can also weaken one’s sense of taste and sense of smell. When this happens, food may become less enjoyable.

It will interest you to know that your body has a stress hormone called corticosterone which lowers the effects of nicotine. If you are under a lot of stress, you will need more nicotine to get the same effect. This explains why people smoke more when they are or feel stressed all in a bid to suppress the effect of the stress hormone on their bodies and achieve maximum nicotine gratification. Some may actually put away cigarettes and go for pipes or hookahs in order to get more smoke into their system.

Have you wondered why smokers feel the need to get high before studying, preparing for a presentation, writing an examination or engaging in other intellectual activity? Here is why. Physical withdrawal from smoking can impair people’s cognitive functioning and make them feel anxious, irritated and depressed. They get so addicted that they feel their normal selves only when they are high.

In addition, withdrawal can cause headaches and sleep problems. While it is necessary for one to quit smoking, it is essential to know that it is not going to be easy. Smokers who wish to quit should see a therapist to assist with the process.

Effects of Smoking on the Respiratory System

When people smoke, they take in substances that can damage their lungs. Over time, their lungs lose their ability to filter harmful chemicals. Coughing cannot clear out the toxins sufficiently, so these toxins get trapped in the lungs. Smokers have a higher risk of respiratory infections, cold and flu.

In condition called emphysema, the air sacs in one’s lungs are destroyed. In chronic bronchitis, the lining of the tubes of the lungs becomes inflamed. Over time, smokers are at increased risk of developing these forms of chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease (COPD). Long term smokers are also at increased risk of lung cancer.

Children whose parents smoke are more prone to coughing, wheezing and asthma attacks than children whose parents do not. They also tend to have more ear infections. Children of smokers have higher rates of pneumonia and bronchitis.

Effects of Smoking on the Cardiovascular System

Smoking damages one’s entire cardiovascular system. When nicotine hits the human body, it gives one’s blood sugar a boost. After a short time, the person is left feeling tired and craving for more. Nicotine causes blood vessels to tighten which restricts the flow of blood (peripheral artery disease).

Smoking lowers good cholesterol levels and raises blood pressure, which can cause stretching of the arteries and a buildup of bad cholesterol (atherosclerosis). Smoking raises the risk of forming blood clots.

Blood clots and weakened blood vessels in the brain increase a smoker’s risk of stroke. Smokers who have heart bypass surgery are at increased risk of recurrent coronary heart disease. In the long term, smokers are at greater risk of blood cancer (leukemia).

There is a risk to nonsmokers too. Breathing secondhand smoke has an immediate effect on the cardiovascular system. Exposure to secondhand smoke increases one’s risk of stroke, heart attack, and coronary heart disease.

There are many people who do not smoke but who are constantly exposed to cigarette smoke. This may be as a result of the company they keep or the sort of places they like to visit. They are no better than those who smoke as they are also prone to the dangers that smoking causes.

Effects on Skin, Hair, and Nails (Integumentary System)

Some of the more obvious signs of smoking involve the skin. The substances in cigarette smoke actually change the structure of one’s skin. Smoking causes skin discolouration, wrinkles, and premature aging. Your fingernails and the skin on your fingers may have yellow staining from holding cigarettes. Smokers usually develop yellow or brown stains on their teeth. Hair holds on to the smell of cigarette smoke long after you put your cigarette out. It even clings to nonsmokers.

Effect of Smoking on the Digestive System

Smokers are at great risk of developing oral problems. Smokers are liable to gum inflammation (gingivitis) or gum infection (periodontitis). These problems can lead to tooth decay, tooth loss, and bad breath.

Smoking also increases risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, and esophagus. Smokers have higher rates of kidney cancer and pancreatic cancer. In addition, it might interest you to know that people who do not smoke but who hang around those who smoke, whether in clubs or bars, and are thereby exposed to cigarette smoke are at increased risk of mouth cancer.

Smoking also has an effect on insulin, making it more likely that one will develop insulin resistance. This puts smokers at increased risk of type 2 diabetes. When it comes to diabetes, smokers tend to develop complications at a faster rate than nonsmokers.

Smoking also depresses appetite, so you may not be getting all the nutrients your body needs. Withdrawal from tobacco products can cause nausea.

Effects of Smoking on the Sexuality and Reproductive System

Restricted blood flow can affect a man’s ability to get an erection. Both men and women who smoke may have difficulty achieving orgasm and are at higher risk if infertility. Women who smoke may experience menopause at an earlier age than nonsmoking women. Smoking increases a woman’s risk of cervical cancer.

Smokers experience more complications of pregnancy, including miscarriage, problems with the placenta and premature delivery.

Pregnant mothers who are exposed to secondhand smoke are also more likely to have a baby with low birth weight. Babies born to mothers who smoke while pregnant are at greater risk of low birth weight, birth defects, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Newborns who breathe secondhand smoke suffer more ear infections and asthma attacks.

In Nigeria as it is with most part of the world, smoking is prevalent among young and old, males and females, whites and blacks. They seem to have one thing in common- the steady decline of their bodies and rapid deterioration of their health.

Smoking is a cancer in our society. It affects smokers as well as nonsmokers. It even affects unborn babies who have not been exposed to the society. Smoking is the worst way to kill oneself. It brings a slow and torturous death. There are just too many health implications associated with the activity.

Thus, in the light of this, I urge people who smoke to have a rethink and quit smoking. For those who do not, I plead with you never to even consider it. In fact, I enjoin you to participate in the fight against it. How? Very easy! Just share this and help save our society. You will be doing someone out there a big favour.

Author: Erhomosele Happy

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