Puffing your life away
By Muhammad Amer Khaqan
Cigarettes are the scourge of human existence. Alright, they may not be that bad, but how bad are they?
A DEBATE between a smoker and non-smoker usually ends in admittance by the smoker that although there are health risks associated with what he is doing, but being an adult (assuming the smoker is an adult!), one has the right to choose the good or bad for oneself. And that will be the end of the argument.
But this is just the start, because although (active) smokers choose to do whatever they want with their health and life. If they smoke in confined spaces, then it’s not only their health that is at stake. It is everybody’s health around them that is also getting affected by their actions. If even one person smokes inside a building, he is subjecting everyone else also to some form of passive smoking.
PASSIVE SMOKING: Breathing other people’s cigarette’s smoke is called passive, involuntary or second-hand smoking. The non-smoker breathes ‘sidestream smoke’ from the burning tip of the cigarette and ‘mainstream’ smoke that has been inhaled and then exhaled by the smoker. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) is a major source of indoor air pollution. But if this is the case, then what protection, if any, is there for non-smokers?
Smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death in the world today. The vast majority of deaths caused by smoking occur through the development of heart disease and lung cancer, followed by chronic bronchitis, stroke and other circulatory diseases.
The particulate phase of smoking includes tar (itself composed of many chemicals), nicotine, benzene etc. The gas phase includes carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide etc.
Some of these have marked irritant properties and some 60 are known or suspected carcinogens (cancer causing substances). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the USA has classified environmental tobacco smoke as a class A (known human) carcinogen and is ranked with asbestos, arsenic, benzene and radon gas. The effect of all these things on the passive smoker can be well imagined.
Some of the immediate effects of passive smoking include eye irritation, headache, cough, sore throat, dizziness and nausea. Adults with asthma can experience a significant decline in lung function when exposed, while new cases of asthma may be induced in children whose parents smoke.
Short term exposure to tobacco smoke also has a measurable effect on the heart of non-smokers. Just 30-minutes’ exposure is enough to reduce coronary blood flow.
In the longer term, passive smokers suffer an increased risk of a range of smoking-related diseases. Non-smokers who are exposed to passive smoking at home, have a 25 per cent increased risk of heart disease and lung cancer.
RISK TO CHILDREN: Almost one-third of all children are exposed to tobacco smoke at home. Passive smoking increases the risk of lower respiratory tract infections, such as bronchitis, pneumonia and bronchiolitis in children. Passive smoking causes a reduction in lung function and increased severity in the symptoms of asthma in children, and is a risk factor for new cases of asthma in children. Passive smoking is also associated with middle ear infection in children as well as, possible cardiovascular impairment and behavioural problems.
Exposure to passive smoking during pregnancy is an independent risk factor for low birth weight.
However, those most affected by secondhand smoke are children. Because their bodies are still developing, exposure to the poisons in secondhand smoke puts children in danger of severe respiratory diseases and can hinder the growth of their lungs. On top of that the effects can last a lifetime.
Ventilation systems in homes cannot filter and circulate air well enough to eliminate secondhand smoke. Blowing smoke away from children, going into another room to smoke, or opening a window may help reduce children’s exposure but will not protect them from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
It has therefore been concluded that the widespread exposure to environmental tobacco smoke presents a serious and substantial public health risk.
ETS: More so, ETS (environmental tobacco smoke) is a human lung carcinogen, responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in nonsmokers. ETS has been classified as a Group A carcinogen under US EPA’s carcinogen assessment guidelines.
ETS exposure increases the risk of respiratory tract infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. ETS exposure also increases the prevalence of fluid in the middle ear, a sign of chronic middle ear disease. ETS exposure in children is associated with reduction in lung function. While ETS exposure increases the frequency of episodes and severity of symptoms in asthmatic children.
QUITTING SMOKING: Understanding is the first step towards quitting smoking. And understanding your nicotine addiction is a major component of that thought.
Nicotine is a drug that produces many different effects on the body at the same time. It stimulates your system, even though it makes you feel relaxed. Nicotine affects chemicals in your brain. After a puff, you usually feel good for a moment or two. New smokers often feel dizzy and sick from tobacco smoke. But they get used to its effects. As they continue to smoke, smokers’ bodies learn to depend on nicotine and can smoke more and more. When smokers stop, most get cravings; they feel anxious, hungry and irritable, and find it hard to focus on what they are doing.
But if you are serious, you can quit it without any patches etc. Start by reducing one cigarette per week i.e. if you smoke 20 cigarettes per day, reduce it to 19 per day for one week. The next week reduce it to 18 and so on, till you achieve your target.
BENEFITS OF QUITTING:
* After six to eight hours, nicotine starts getting out of your system. In about two days, all nicotine related products have gone.
* After 24 hours, carbon monoxide from smoking is out of your system. Your lungs work better, you can do more before you run short of breath.
* After two days, senses of taste and smell sharpen. Your breath, hair, fingers and teeth are cleaner.
* After one month, the cilia (hair like cleaning system in the lungs) are beginning to recover and remove mucus. You will probably cough up black, tar laden mucus for about two weeks.
* Within two months of quitting, the blood flow to hands and feet improves, toes and fingers stay warm and you will have more energy.
* After about three months, both men and women become more fertile.
* After twelve months, your risk of sudden death from heart attack has almost halved.
* Five years after stopping, that risk is almost the same as for a non-smoker.
COPING WITH WITHDRAWAL: Use the withdrawal symptoms as your guide to rate of reducing the number of cigarettes that you smoke. If you start feeling the withdrawal symptoms a lot, it means that you are quitting too fast. So slow down. Remember, if you have been smoking for, say, five years, your body has been used to it and will not be easy to part with this habit in just a matter of days.
Withdrawal symptoms are the way your body reacts and is readjusting and getting rid of chemicals from cigarettes. Think of them as recovery symptoms. The withdrawal period varies from person-to-person but for most people withdrawal symptoms disappear within a month.
Few people experience some or all the following withdrawal symptoms, but it is worth being prepared to experience some of them:
* Dizziness and lightheadedness means your body is adapting to having more oxygen.
* Headaches happen as your blood pressure returns to normal.
* Tingling sensations, muscle aches, pains and trembling are all signs of improved circulation. These sensations usually pass after two weeks.
* Upset digestion, constipation, nausea, stomach upsets, diarrhoea and a dry throat rarely last more than four days.
* Sleep patterns can change and you may experience unusual or strong dreams, your sleep pattern should readjust within a couple of weeks.
* Coughing means your lungs are getting rid of tar and mucous.
* Cravings will decrease and occur with less intensity over time.
* Emotional ups and downs are normal whenever we make a big change in our lives.
To take your mind off smoking, indulge yourself in something else. Play music, walk or phone a friend. Try and keep your hands busy by doodling or playing with your keys or beads.
It may feel awkward at first to tell people not to smoke in your home — no one wants to make guests uncomfortable — but if your guests are sincere to you and your family’s health, they won’t smoke inside. If visitors absolutely must smoke, tell them they can do so outside.
If someone in your household smokes, be sympathetic and understanding — but let that person know that cigarette smoke affects everyone, not just the smoker. Again, if someone absolutely must smoke, ask that person to do so outside.
Tomorrow is the World No Tobacco Day.
A smoker’s tale
By Naveed Gilani
AFTER the usual niceties of introduction I asked, “So Brian, what do you do for a living?”
“I smoke”, Brian replied. I found out that he was a tobacco blender who visited Pakistan every couple of months to advise a local tobacco company on their new blends. He lived in Spain where he had retired with his wife after an exciting career, first in the military and then in the tobacco business.
“How many cigarettes do you smoke in a day” I asked.
“Oh! I guess about sixty to seventy in an eight hour work day. For pleasure, hmm ... I have never counted” he revealed.
I was amazed. Here was a man who smoked eighty to ninety cigarettes a day at over 70 years of age and was in seemingly perfect health. From then on the frequent ‘why don’t you quit smoking’ nags of my wife were responded with reference to Brian’s smoking capacity and his good health, despite the small vice.
Are cigarettes really as bad for health as they say? And why does one smoke?
My dad always said that he only smoked because my mother liked the smell of cigarette smoke. Mother never acknowledged it though. My grandmother said she smoked because it helped her digestion. Grandfather, an ardent reader, spent most of his nights in the company of his cigarettes and books.
Japanese and Chinese are one of the most passionate smokers. At semi-official dinners, guests are offered packs of cigarettes before the food is served. At a Chinese wedding, each table has a few cigarette sticks of various popular brands. After the ceremony, as the bride and groom mingle with the guests, it is customary for the bride to light your cigarette. Even a non-smoker is obligated to take a few puffs.
In the west, particularly in the US, most offices are non-smoking areas. But that doesn’t deter a smoker. They just walk out of the office building, through snow, in sub-zero temperatures, just to quell their nicotine urge.
I started in my twenties, during the early part of my professional career, when I used to live in a Swiss Cottage, a fancy name for a large tent, away from the city in the middle of nowhere. I would sometimes smoke one along with the others who were regular smokers. Soon I bought my first pack.
Then one day browsing in a pipe shop I bought myself a cheap hand carved briar pipe and a local blend of tobacco to go along with it. Enjoyed every puff of it and soon I was a pipe-smoker. With time I picked up the usual paraphernalia along with the quirks of pipe smoking. Although I quit a number of years ago I still enjoy looking at my small collection of pipes, Italian briars to Turkish meerschaums. They adorn the bookshelf in my study.
Back in Spain, Brian got sick one day and the doctor advised him to quit smoking and drinking. To his misfortune he listened to the doctor and soon, he passed away. His body, used to over seventy cigarettes a day, could not function without the daily nicotine dose.
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