No Tobacco Area

What’s in a cigarette?
There  are  more  than  4000  chemicals  contained  in  tobacco
smoke,  many  of  which  are  harmful  when  inhaled  by  smokers
and those around them.

Nicotine
This  is  the  drug  that  causes  addiction.  It  is  very  powerful  and  fast  acting,
hitting  the  brain  seven  seconds  after  each  drag.  Nicotine  causes  higher
than  usual  neurotransmitter  activity.  When  the  activity  starts  to  drop  back
to ‘normal’ level, smokers finds themselves craving the next cigarette.

Carbon Monoxide
Carbon    monoxide  is  a  colourless,  odourless    gas  found    in  high  concentrations
in  cigarette  smoke.  It  is  also  produced  by  car  exhausts  and  faulty  gas  fires
and boilers.

When  inhaled,  carbon  monoxide  combines  readily  with  haemoglobin  in
red  blood  cells  to  form  carboxyhaemoglobin.  This  decreases  the  blood’s
oxygen-carrying  capacity,  depriving  the  organs  and  muscles  of  oxygen.
The  smoker  may  experience  fatigue,  shortness  of  breath  and  low  energy
levels.

To  try  and  get  more  oxygen  in,  the  heart  beats  faster  and  more  red  blood
cells  are  produced.  The  heart  has  to  work  harder  which  increases  the  risk
of  heart  attack  or  heart  failure.  Smoking  just  three  cigarettes  a  day
doubles the risk of having a heart attack.

The  extra  red  blood  cells  produced  cause  the  blood  to  become  thicker
and  more  sticky.    Carbon  monoxide  also  interacts  in  the  blood  vessels  to
increase  fatty  deposits  on  the  arterial  walls.  The  effect  of  these  fatty
deposits  and  blood  becoming  stickier  is  to  increase  the  chance  of  blood
clots  and  strokes  (clot  in  the  brain)  and  heart  attacks  (clot  in  the  arteries
of the heart).

Carbon  monoxide  is  particularly  harmful  during  pregnancy.  In  addition  to
the  damage  to  the  woman,  the  oxygen  supply  to  the  uterus  and  fetus  is
reduced.  One  cigarette  can  reduce  fetal  blood  flow  by  60%,  restricting
growth, repair and exchange of essential nutrients in the evolving cells.

As per the World Health Organization statistics, it has been established that 7 people die due to tobacco use. Tobacco consists more than 400 toxic substances and a further 4,000 chemical compounds.

The most hazardous substances are tar, a carcinogen substance and nicotine which is addictive and increases cholesterol and carbon monoxide levels in the body. Carbon monoxide decreases the amount of oxygen in the body and this gives rise to different health problems. Smoking decreases the levels of oxygen reaching tissues because it constricts and damages blood vessels, giving rise to different health problems.

Smokers are more likely to suffer from respiratory infections and other minor complaints such as colds and coughs. Smokers suffer from severe diseases such as heart diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, lung disease, respiratory problems and other problems related to pancreas, kidneys, and liver. Hereunder is a breakdown of smoking related diseases:

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): This is a group of health conditions that blocks airflow and thus one will have difficulty in breathing. The COPD causes health dysfunctions like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Emphysema is when one has breathlessness because alveoli or air sacs have been damaged. Chronic bronchitis leads to frequent coughing with a lot of mucus. Smoking is 80% responsible for about 80% of COPD cases. The lungs decline at a faster rate, 3 times in fact in smokers than normal rate. Breathlessness starts due to the lungs dysfunction.

Cancer: Smokers are more likely to get cancer; cancer of the lungs, throat, gullet and mouth is caused by Carcinogen that is present in tobacco smoke. It is approximated that 90% of lung cancer cases are associated with smoking.

Other cancer diseases associated with smoking is cancer of the bladder, pancreatic, kidneys and esophagus, cervical cancer is more prevalent in female smokers.

Cardiovascular Diseases: These are diseases of the heart, the blood vessels, including veins and arteries. Major causes of smoke related deaths fall in this category. As it had earlier been established that nicotine increases the cholesterol levels in the blood, these cholesterol and other fats are deposited in the arteries. The arteries therefore become rigid, narrow or blocked. Due to the narrowing of these arteries, there will be blood clots and thus the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Common cardiovascular diseases are peripheral vascular disease, coronary thrombosis, coronary heart diseases, cerebral thrombosis and cerebrovascular diseases like stroke.

The lining of blood vessels are damaged, this affects the level of fats in the bloodstreams, the risks of atheroma are increased; this is the major source of stroke, aneurysms and heart diseases. Additionally, smoking causes mouth ulcerations.

Smoking has been associated with sexual problems, from performance in sex to infertility. Further smoking increases the risk of high blood pressure. Pale skin and more wrinkles are caused due to decrease in vitamin A levels, smokers have a lower supply of blood to the skin.

During pregnancy, it is advisable not to smoke since it heightens the risk of miscarriage, complications such as bleeding, ectopic pregnancy, premature birth and detachment of placenta. Also still births, low birth weight or congenital defects such as cleft palate.

Basically the health of the smoker and those around them are affected; smokers don’t get old, they die young.

Don’t you think that it is about time you quit smoking? Or have you already quit several times? The purpose of this blog is to assist you in quitting forever, without the urge to start up again.

I have some good articles I have written and I gathered that might be useful for you
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