Say no to Tobacco!

May 31st has been declared as the ‘World No Tobacco Day’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The need for such a day is very important these days as around 7 million people are killed annually due to tobacco use, listing it as the one of the leading cause of preventable illness and death. The theme WHO has taken up this year is “Tobacco - A threat to Development” and tobacco has indeed become a hindrance to one’s health, economic stability and development. A great many people begin smoking when they are in their high school and are completely dependent on it when they reach adulthood. Some have attempted to stop, however they have come back to cigarettes since smoking is such a solid enslavement. It is an inclination that is exceptionally hard to break. If one wonders how it starts, there are many reasons. 

How It Starts

In youngsters there are three main reasons that can be cited: - to look mature, to impress or imitate their friends and to experiment.

•  Since high school students see more established individuals close to them smoking, particularly their parents and relatives, they smoke to act more grown-up.

• In the event that their companions or acquaintances smoke, they may feel forced into doing likewise to be acknowledged.

•  The last reason is the excitement of exploring different opportunities regarding something that is prohibited. 

Among adults on the other hand the reasons are different. Mostly it’s seen as an escape route, to avoid stress they face from different scenarios be it from the career space, their family environment or simply because they have no choice as it is an addiction. Be it young or old, it’s a habit that needs to stop. They mean it quite intensely when it is advertised that ‘Smoking Kills.’ So why are we blatantly ignoring all the warning signs?

How It Affects You (and Others)

There are over 4,000 chemicals in cigarettes. 51 of them are known to be carcinogenic. A carcinogen is something that causes cancer. Chemicals in cigarettes and cigarette smoke are known to cause not only cancer but also other serious health problems. Many of the chemicals are poisonous.

It’s not just the ones who smoke who are harmed it’s also the dear one’s around you. The people who inhale the smoke that you exhale, known as passive smoking, can cause vast damages to them.  Smoking can diminish your profitability at work, in addition to every one of those potential medical complexities connected to smoking such as coronary illness, diabetes and reduced immune capacity.

Taking in second hand smoke — regardless of whether it’s from a neighbor’s lit cigarette or from a cigarette outside your window—has appeared to effectively affect the cardiovascular arrangement of people around the smoke. After some time, passive smoking incurs significant injury on individuals’ lungs and has been found to build the risk of stroke by 20-30% to those exposed to it.

How to Stop

Ever heard prevention is better than cure? It couldn’t be truer for this case. The tell-tale signs have already been discussed in this article so it’s necessary that the habit does not start, especially among your young ones. This addiction is a tough battle to get into but help is available. 

•  The first step of-course is that you realizing that you need help. Nothing can help more than this self-realization to help your-self. Once that’s done the rest gets easier.

•  Choose a method to follow and stick to it. Set milestones so you can check for yourself how far you’ve come. Be it cutting down on the number of times you smoke daily or avoiding it completely, stick to your method you have chosen at all cost! Try not to fall into temptation when you are doing such a good job.

•  Realize that there are alternatives to help you with this.  Using E-cigarettes while trying to quit is known to be helpful to the process. Also there as other forms of nicotine that can also curb the addiction such as nicotine gum or patches this is known as Nicotine Replacement Therapy.   

•  Finally, make sure you understand when it is time to seek out professional help. If deemed necessary it’s always handy to have an expert on board to help you quit smoking. 

Well saying no to tobacco is not just beneficial to your health but to your wallet as well as your time. It relieves you of the burden of unnecessarily spending money on something that can potentially kill you. In addition, all that free time you at this moment have from not having to take those 10 minute cigarette breaks can efficiently be used to do something more productive. We can see now why WHO has seen Tobacco as a threat to development right?