Since the 1950s, numerous medical studies around the world have confirmed that smoking is the primary risk factor for lung cancer. In order to draw the attention of the international community to the dangers of tobacco to human health, the World Health Organization has designated May 31 each year as World No-Tobacco Day, and the theme of this year’s No-Tobacco Day is “Tobacco Industry Interferes with Tobacco Control,” with the slogan This year’s theme is “Tobacco Industry Interference in Tobacco Control” and the slogan is “Life and Tobacco Confrontation. To this end, let’s first understand the dangers of smoking.
The harm of smoking is multifaceted, and the harm is not only to the smoker himself, but also to his family and the people around him. The World Health Organization has classified smoking as a global epidemic and has confirmed that tobacco is currently the greatest threat to human health.
1. Lung airway diseases and lung cancer.
Cigarettes release 38 kinds of toxic chemicals when they burn, among which the main harmful ingredients are tar, carbon monoxide, nicotine, and irritating smoke. Tar is damaging to the mouth, throat, trachea, and lungs. The tar in tobacco smoke is deposited on the villi of the lungs, destroying the function of airway cilia, and the direct stimulation of smoke produces airway inflammation, increasing sputum and causing chronic bronchial lesions, leading to bronchitis, emphysema, and pulmonary heart disease. We often encounter some patients, more than 40 years old, complaining of shortness of breath after activity, chest tightness, can be relieved after rest, a lung function diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; according to statistics, the proportion of people suffering from lung disease after 60 years of age is 74%, while the proportion of non-smokers suffering from lung disease after 60 years of age is only 4%, which is an alarming figure! At present, the main factors affecting the occurrence of lung cancer in the Chinese population are mental factors, smoking, indoor environmental pollution, respiratory diseases, family history, vegetable and fruit intake, etc. Since the 1950s, a large number of epidemiological studies worldwide have confirmed that smoking is the primary risk factor for lung cancer, and 87% of lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking, which can produce more than 40 kinds of carcinogenic substances, among which the main ones closely related to lung cancer are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, arsenic, propylene, nicotine (nicotine), carbon monoxide, and tobacco tar, etc. These These carcinogens can lead to DNA damage of bronchial epithelial cells, activation of certain oncogenes, mutation and inactivation of oncogenes through different mechanisms, resulting in transformation of cellular genetic information and carcinogenesis. The risk of lung cancer due to smoking is closely related to the type of tobacco, the age of starting smoking, the number of years of smoking, and the amount of smoking. When encountering male lung cancer patients and asking about smoking history, most of them have it.
2. Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Smoking causes coronary vasoconstriction; carbon monoxide in cigarettes reduces the oxygen content of the blood; smoking can increase adrenaline secretion, causing high blood pressure, increased heart rate, arrhythmia, increased heart load, accelerating atherosclerosis and generation of blood clots, affecting blood circulation and lead to cardiovascular disease or aggravate cardiovascular disease, sudden death syndrome, stroke and a total of more than 20 diseases. Some scholars found that smokers caused by coronary heart disease sudden death, more than four times higher than non-smokers.
3, smoking causes cancer.
Studies have found that smoking is the fastest way to produce the most free radicals, each puff of smoke will produce at least 100,000 free radicals, which leads to cancer and many chronic diseases. Recently, Oxford Tidcliffe Hospital, England, 35,000 smokers for up to 50 years of research concluded that the results show that lung cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, liver cancer, oral cancer, sinus cancer and other 11 types of cancer and smoking “significantly related.
4, smoking on the intellectual harm.
Smoking can make a person’s attention is affected. Some people believe that smoking can refresh, eliminate fatigue, trigger inspiration, which is no scientific reason. Experimental evidence that smoking seriously affects the intelligence of people, memory, thus reducing the efficiency of work and learning.
5, other.
Smoking can also lead to osteoporosis, early onset of menopause; smoking can cause men to lose sexual and reproductive function; pregnant women smoking can lead to premature birth and underweight fetus, the chance of miscarriage increased. Smoking causes yellow teeth and bad breath. Smoking is harmful, and 53% of children in China smoke passively, which is even more harmful, making them susceptible to pneumonia, bronchitis, severe asthma and other diseases. If the current situation of smoking continues, the intellectual development of children, families who smoke, and individuals will pay a great price.
People who smoke secondhand and thirdhand smoke have a higher mortality rate than those who smoke directly. Secondhand smoke is a mixture of smoke that drifts out of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar as it burns or is exhaled by the smoker as they smoke. Secondhand smoke is the most commonly exposed pollutant in many places where smoking occurs. The smoke emitted when smoking can emit more than four thousand gaseous and particulate substances, most of which are strong irritants, at least forty of which can cause cancer in humans or animals. These particles can remain in the air for hours after the smoker stops smoking and can be inhaled by other non-smokers, causing even more damage to human health. Studies have shown that a smoker who smokes is more harmful to others than to himself, and that women whose wives do not smoke, but whose husbands do, have a lung cancer mortality rate 2.4 times higher than that of their husbands. The risk is most serious for children, whose children are at much greater risk of pneumonia, bronchitis, respiratory infections and other diseases than normal children.
So how to reduce the health risks of second-hand smoke and third-hand smoke?
1. Take means that help achieve a smoke-free environment, such as setting up smoke-free signs in the office, smoke-free computer desktops or screensavers, hiding ashtrays, regularly updating tobacco control publicity materials, making comments to colleagues who smoke, and browsing tobacco control web pages in the presence of smoking colleagues, etc., in an effort to avoid buying cigarettes for others and to eliminate the act of handing or lighting cigarettes to others.
2. Clean up the office in a timely manner every day, cigarette butts and ashes, and do not see the residue of tobacco smoke. Because the past centralized sanitation often cleaned up from invisible places many cigarette butts and ashes, so special attention should be paid to those places. Ensure more indoor ventilation, if not ventilated, should wear a smoke-free promotional mask, in case of pollution second-hand smoke, should wash their hair and hands as soon as possible, and must shower and change clothes when conditions permit. When you encounter third-hand smoke, it is recommended that you wash your clothes or place them in a ventilated area to effectively protect your health.
3. Regularly count the number of smoke-free workdays, and strive to increase the number of smoke-free days each month compared to the previous month until you achieve 100 percent smoke-free workdays.
China is a major producer and consumer of tobacco, accounting for more than one-third of global production and consumption. While the tobacco industry has long claimed that the industry generates jobs and tax revenue, according to data provided by the World Health Organization, its contribution to the economy is not nearly enough to offset the damage it causes to household spending, public health, the environment, and the national economy. Therefore, controlling tobacco harms is a public health issue that is long-term, daunting and complex. On a personal level, although many people want to quit smoking, they struggle to do so. Moreover, it is said that only 3% of smokers are successful in quitting with willpower, can you introduce us to the scientific method of quitting smoking? What are the differences in the ways and means to quit smoking for the less experienced smokers and the “old smokers”? Yes, quitting smoking is easier said than done, and the number of young smokers is increasing, so it is very important to quit.
To increase the success rate of quitting smoking, first we need to have a scientific approach to quitting smoking.
I. Listen to your doctor’s advice.
Following the advice of a doctor is the best option to help smokers quit, understand the dangers of quitting and be able to know the benefits of quitting, and be confident in quitting, for example: 20 minutes of quitting, heart rate decreases; 12 hours of quitting, blood CO levels drop to normal 2 weeks to 3 months of quitting, circulatory system function and lung function improve 1 to 9 months of quitting, cough and shortness of breath occur less, lung cilia return to normal function Quit 1 year after quitting, the additional risk of coronary heart disease is reduced to 50% of that of a smoker 5-15 years after quitting, the risk of stroke is reduced to that of a never smoker 5-15 years after quitting, the risk of lung cancer mortality is reduced to 50% of that of a continuing smoker 15 years after quitting, the risk of heart disease is reduced to that of a never smoker
Second, behavioral cessation.
1, quit smoking from now on, completely quit smoking or gradually reduce the number of smoking methods, usually 3 to 4 months can be successful.
2, throw away all cigarettes, lighters, matches and ashtrays.
3.Avoid participating in places or activities where you used to smoke.
4, drink water, eat fruit or walk after meals, get rid of the idea of a cigarette after meals.
5, when the addiction to smoke, to immediately do deep breathing activities, or chewing sugar-free gum, avoid replacing cigarettes with snacks, otherwise it will cause a rise in blood sugar, the body is too fat.
6, resolutely refuse the temptation of cigarettes, often remind yourself that another cigarette is enough to make the plan to quit smoking abandoned.
Third, drugs to quit smoking.
Nicotine replacement therapy: long-acting: patch; short-acting: chewable preparations and other oral drugs: varenicline (Changpei): 3 months to quit smoking success rate of up to 100%. The best treatment program for tobacco dependence: a combination of medication and psychological and conscious behavioral treatment!
There are also many people who succeeded in quitting smoking at that time, but later resumed smoking. How is the harm of relapse? Experts from an American university once surveyed nearly 500 people who had quit smoking. The results showed that compared to people who had been smoking, those who quit and then resumed smoking had more rapid lung failure. Re-smokers are more vulnerable to the toxic substances in the smoke, more addictive than smokers who have been smoking, and in the “re-smoking”, the number of cigarettes inhaled more, and each puff of smoke inhaled more deeply, the impact on health is self-evident. Therefore, once the smoker has quit smoking, we must resist the temptation of cigarettes and quit smoking completely to avoid “re-smoking” to cause more damage to the body.
So, how to prevent relapse after quitting smoking?
1. Reinforce the motivation to quit smoking.
Tell the person that it is normal to relapse into smoking during the process of quitting. No matter what method you use to quit smoking, the desire for cigarettes will continue to arise during the quitting process, and tobacco dependence itself is a chronic disease. Let the other party have a bottom in his heart and help him build up his confidence to quit smoking again, so that he can come back to quit smoking.
2. Change the environment around you.
Get rid of cigarettes, no matter how good they are. It can be throwing them away, and the most convenient thing is to stop paying for them and not to accept cigarettes handed to you. Another thing is that lighters, ashtrays and other cigarette accessories should be cleaned up, at least in the home and office real not to have these things present. If you encounter people who smoke, you should actively avoid them. Do not go to bars or smoking places to create a smoke-free environment for your own smoking cessation.
3. Compensate yourself appropriately.
If you have successfully quit smoking for one month, three months or six months, then you should give yourself some compensation appropriately. For example, you can travel as a way to motivate yourself; you can also drink tea or use your favorite hobby to compensate yourself as a reward for quitting smoking.
4. Do more exercise
This is a very effective way to curb smoking addiction and keep yourself a vibrant organism, which can reduce the desire to resume smoking.
5.Medication.
When you start to quit smoking, you may experience cravings, dizziness, nervousness, lack of concentration, depression, insomnia, stomach discomfort, constipation, and other symptoms due to the reduced concentration of nicotine in the blood, as well as psychological and behavioral habits that you cannot immediately adapt to. Smoking addiction is not a behavioral habit but a chronic disease that often requires repeated interventions and multiple quit attempts, and if there are difficulties, try smoking cessation medications. Seek medication at a hospital smoking cessation clinic.