Smoking tobacco is a severe form of addiction with a negative impact on the health of individuals who smoke and also for those who are around them.
Smoking tobacco is a severe form of addiction with a negative impact on the health of individuals who smoke and also for those who are around them.
The World Health Organisation in its continued battle against tobacco use recognizes May 31st of every year as 'World No Tobacco Day.' This year, the theme is 'Tobacco and Lung Health' considering the indisputable fact that lungs bear the brunt of the various ill effects of tobacco.
Lung cancer
Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer worldwide, claiming many lives. Passive smoking in the workplace or home also increases the risk of lung cancer. Quitting smoking halves the chance of suffering from lung cancer by ten years, after quitting.
Chronic Respiratory Diseases
Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) in which small windpipes within the lungs are narrowed with phlegm, causing cough and difficulty in breathing. The risk is high for those who have started smoking early in their life, as smoking tobacco affects lung development. It also exacerbates asthma symptoms. Smoking cessation slows the progression of COPD and relieves asthmatic conditions.
Reduced Lung Growth
Infants born to mothers who are passive smokers because of their environment and children whose parents are smokers may sometime suffer due to reduced lung growth and function. They are at an increased risk of Asthma, Pneumonia, Bronchitis and frequent lower respiratory tract infections. It also increases their risk of developing COPD in adulthood.
Tuberculosis
Smokers are twice likely to develop TB than a non-smoker. This increases the risk of disability and death from respiratory failure.
Air Pollution
Tobacco smoke is a hazardous form of indoor air pollution. It is invisible and full of toxic chemicals. It lingers in the air for upto five hours, leading to second-hand smoke exposure and related health risks.
Two-thirds of smokers state that they want to quit smoking. However, long-term success rates are low. Despite the availability of sufficient medicines and treatments to support quit attempts, the majority of smokers choose to quit unassisted, by going ‘cold turkey.’ This has proved to be the least effective method. Smokers who use a combination of medication and expert behavioural support are up to four times as likely to stop smoking successfully as those who attempt to quit unaided or with over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy.
Smoking tobacco is to be treated as a physical disease and the motivated smoker who wants to quit should be offered help. This includes counselling by health care providers who can help people cope with the urge, and prescription of medications to prevent nicotine withdrawal consequences. They need continued support from family, friends and a health care team during this process. Structured Smoking cessation programs provide these services. One such program is available at the PSG Institute of Pulmonary Medicine.
Nowadays, we see some of the adult smokers and youngsters using electronic cigarettes as a way to quit smoking, but they are not free of concerns. Some, countries like the UK encourage it, even though the WHO, US FDA discourages its liberal use.
Electronic cigarettes are electronic devices that usually deliver nicotine. They consist of a cartridge containing a liquid, an atomizer (Vaporization chamber with a heating element) and a battery. When the user activates the atomizer, it heats the liquid and produces vapour to inhale. This is popularly known as 'Vaping.'
E-cigarettes do not expose the user to many of the constituents of cigarette smoke (e.g. tars, oxidant gases and carbon monoxide) that are responsible for many of the tobacco-attributable diseases. However, most e-cigarettes contain several potentially toxic chemical substances. Despite this, most experts believe that inhaling e-cigarette vapour is likely to be less harmful than inhaling cigarette smoke. Long term consequences and overall safety of e-cigarette vapour inhalation is widely unknown.
The rapidly increasing prevalence of e-cigarettes escalates concerns about the risks of e-cigarettes use among youth in developed and developing nations. Many of them are not chain cigarette smokers. As they are not used to quit the normally used cigarette, it increases the risks of the use of tobacco products and other substance addictions. For these concerns, many countries restrict the sale of e-cigarettes to youths. The Indian government also proposes to ban e-cigarette sale, import and manufacture. In August 2018, the Ministry of Health had issued an advisory to all States and Union Territories to ensure that ENDS, e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, vape, e-sheesha, e-nicotine flavoured hookah, and similar tools that enable nicotine delivery are not sold (including online sale), manufactured, distributed, traded, imported and advertised in their jurisdictions.
Recent good quality research suggests that e-cigarette was more effective than nicotine replacement therapies in quitting smoking in adults. However, the smokers are advised to completely quit normal cigarette smoking, since the consequences of dual smoking are not yet known.
