Smoking kills, how to kick the habit

CEBU, Philippines - Last week, two famous personalities of political influence – one rich, the other poor – succumbed from lung cancer. Ironically, June is “No Tobacco Month”, highlighting the evils of lung cancer’s most potent cause – smoking.

Last year, people all over the world were enraged when a video of a young boy addicted to smoking was posted on YouTube. Sadly, the reason for the baby’s addiction was ignorance. The family, especially the father, seemed to be unaware of the ills of cigarette smoking and believed it to be a status symbol. The father was so proud at his baby’s smoking skills.

The disgust that the video elicited could have contributed to the sudden awareness of people and government officials on the problems caused by this habit.

Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds that are harmful to the body, and at least 69 of these causes cancer.

For this reason, even slight exposure to cigarette smoke causes immediate damage to the body. In fact, even third hand smokers (those who sniff cigarette smoke from the clothes of smokers) are not spared from its ill-effects.

Some of these chemicals, when breathed in, would immediately cause damage to the blood vessels throughout the body, causing blood to clot, eventually causing stroke, heart attacks, and even sudden death.

Cigarette’s smoke also produces carbon monoxide, which would compete with oxygen in hitching a ride to the lungs. Hemoglobin is the only vehicle that carries oxygen to the lungs, but since it becomes full with carbon monoxide, it could no longer carry oxygen molecules, thus the running out of breath of smokers even with light activities.

The lungs’ linings are also not spared from damage. In fact, it is because of this damage to sensitive lung tissue that cancer cells form. Toxic cigarette chemicals damage tissues up to the level of the DNA. As more cells become damaged, the tendency for tissues to malform increase, most especially with the influence of the damaging chemicals contained in cigarette smoke.

The malformation of the cells could lead to the formation of cancerous cells that would then easily spread and eventually kill the body slowly and painfully.

If you have no plans of suffering a painful death that would drag your loved ones to extreme poverty, the solution would be for you to kick that nasty habit.

The effect of quitting is instant.

The risk for heart attack would drop sharply after one year of quitting; stroke risk would equal that of non-smokers in two to five years; risk of contracting cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder would fall after five years; and the risk of dying from lung cancer would be cut in half after 10 years. Despite this encouraging news, quitting is still very difficult to do.

A great first step is to realize the need to kick the habit. If you really love yourself and your family, then seek professional help, an addiction specialist would be very appropriate.

Determination is also very important if you are decided on quitting, otherwise you would have every reason to take that puff. Just a small puff, you would say.

Family and loved ones can be a major factor for quitting. If you don’t quit, what will happen to your dependents if you die? Would you allow them to live a life of misery because the person that they depended on for their food and just about everything decided to commit a slow suicide by smoking? Where would they get the money for your treatment when you start becoming a burden as your condition worsens and you r hospital stay increases?

It would also be wise to stay away from people who smoke. The smell of cigarette can be very tempting to a person who is on the process of quitting. Your friends would understand, in fact, if they are truly your friends, they would even help ensure that your transition would be smooth and easy.

Smoking can be very satisfying and stimulating, but it is a potent killer. Its the most effective way of committing suicide without alarming your family or friends, and most especially if you have all the intentions of seeing those close to you suffer from extreme hardship as you slowly succumb to the inevitable.

So, if this reality is not what you want for yourself and your family, then make that decision to quit.