Dr. Ashaq Hussain
Tobacco causes 8 million deaths every year and smokers are at higher risk of developing Covid-19 disease than others
A human uses many things in his daily life, some of these are beneficial for health whereas some are harmful. At present Due to the global epidemic of corona virus, the movement of people is restricted in most parts of the world. Most offices and companies are closed, jobs are either lost or people are working online from home. So, if you are a smoker or an addict of any kind and are tired of the current situation at home, then surely you have increased your smoking? You are not alone; the current state of depression around the world has led to an increase in the use of many narcotics, such as cigarettes, huqqa, e-cigarettes and marijuana.
Have you ever wondered what a deadly habit smoking is and what is in a cigarette or in a product of tobacco and what happens due to smoking or by consuming tobacco products? The answer to this question is alone cigarettes contain about 7,000 highly harmful chemicals that cause around eight million deaths annually, due to diseases like heart problems and respiratory problems which accounts for 9% of all deaths worldwide.
The health effects of smoking and consuming other tobacco products have been and continue to be studied in almost all countries of the world, but the Irish Cancer Society and the American Lung Association for Lung Diseases in the United States are enough to prove once again how much harm a smoker does to himself and to other humans and the environment around him.
According to the data of these two organizations, when a smoker smokes, the number of chemicals that enter his body due to this process is around 7,000. Of these deadly chemicals the most important and dangerous chemicals are Acetone, Acetic acid, Ammonia, Benzene, Butane, Cadmium, Carbon monoxide, Formaldehyde, Hexamine, Lead, Naphthalene, Methanol, Nicotine, Tar coal, Toluene, Arsenic, zinc etc. This is a list of only 17 very toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke, in addition to the more than 6,983 other toxic chemicals found in the body of any smoker.
Nicotine is a major component of tobacco, a toxic substance found in tobacco leaves, which can damage the heart and arteries (nerves) through tobacco smoke. It is a very intoxicating substance like heroin. It is also called Slow Poison, because its poison gradually kills. It adds two chemicals to our brain, one endorphin (opium in the body) and the other dopamine (an ischemic chemical secreted in the brain, which speeds up blood circulation).
At the same time, the nicotine in the cigarette makes the smoker smoke more frequently. The more nicotine enters the human body, the more it needs it, and the brain becomes more accustomed to it, forcing it to smoke again and again in order to feel better. Smoking makes the heart beat faster and blood pressure stays higher for about 2 minutes to an hour. Another form of poison in tobacco smoke is carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide, which is a toxic gas, can cause cancer. Ammonia is another toxic gas that makes the eyes, nose and respiratory tract feel tingling and suffocation. The components arsenic and Zinc are poisons primarily used to kill rats. According to one study, cigarettes contain a mixture of more than 2,000 chemicals, most of which are similar to a toxic waste that can hardly be eliminated.
These are the ingredient that make up tobacco and thereby makes the way in the body of consumer. There may be other things as well. If all of these are studied, the result will be that tobacco is made up of harmful substances somewhere that can cause a variety of cancers.
These include lung cancer, kidney, mouth, throat, respiratory tract and blood cancers. Another problem which arises due to smoking is the loss of appetite, when the body does not get a complete diet due to loss of appetite, there will be a decrease in strength and even diet will not fully work then to gain the lost strength. In addition to these, poor blood cells, heart diseases and other life-threatening diseases are common in smokers.
According to a research report published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, smokers are more likely than the general population to be infected with any viral infection. The influenza virus, for example, affects smokers 36 percent more often than the general population. Another report of World Health Organization reveals that people who use cigarettes and other similar products have a higher risk of developing Crohn’s disease than others. Since the corona virus attacks the lungs and smokers’ lungs are already infected which not only negatively affects the functioning of the lungs, but also weakens the body’s immune system.
Thus people who use cigarettes and other similar products have a higher risk of developing Covid-19 disease than others. Moreover, if corona virus is present in the hands of smokers, there is a risk of the virus reaching their mouths due to smoking. In addition, people who experience huqqa, shisha and hashish usually give it to other people as well. This increases the risk of the corona virus spreading from person to person. So people who use cigarettes or other such products are putting themselves in double danger that is why many medical experts are calling for a ban on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
It is estimated that more than one-third of all adults in the world are addicted to cigarettes and and other tobacco products. Among them, 5% of men and 4% of women are regular smokers, while 100,000 children start smoking daily. Smoking cigarettes or consuming tobacco products seems to become fashionable among the modern youth. These addicts not include only men but a good number of women too are addicted to it.
The excessive use of tobacco products has increased the death rate to a large extent, thereby has devastated many families. Today the condition of the society is that the father smokes in front of the son, teachers smoke in front of the students and thus the younger generation smoke in front of the elder and teens thereby devastating the society as a whole. This is the main causes which encourage smoking and addiction in young children.
When a person becomes addicted to cigarettes, he gradually starts using other drugs and then becomes addicted to drugs too. When drug addicted children come to educational institutions, it becomes difficult to stop and handle them. They ruin their health and carrier and also spoil the environment where they live. Therefore, we need to develop strategies to stop smoking and drug use.
For this, first we have to give up smoking/drugs ourselves because the action of adults is a model for children. Thus wait is over now, dear smokers; this is not the time to smoke more but an opportunity to reduce or quit completely thus commit it and quit it.
And fellow non-smokers, we must remain committed to avoid this deadly habit in ourselves in order to save ourselves and our family in addition to the society. Let today on the eve of world no Tobacco day, we pledge that we shall never smoke or consume any type of tobacco products and also motivate others too for the same. For this we pledge to run awareness campaigns, distribute pamphlets everywhere, use banners in public places to make people aware in order to make a healthy society with pleasant and healthy environment. |
