DR AZADEH Senior Lecturer at the University of The Gambia continues with his health advice on all the benefits of quitting smoking and the ways of stop smoking on this avoidable habit and prevention of number of health risks and deathly diseases caused by continue smoking.
DR AZADEH what are the effect of smoking on man's potency and childless?
Smoking and tobacco use affect reproduction system and cause luck of potency and infertility in men. Research shows that men who smoke have lower sperm counts, and the sperm they do have is often misshapen and has a harder time moving-making conceiving more difficult. Experts also believe smoking affects sperm DNA which may lead to developmental and physical health problems in a child.
DR AZADEH what is in a Cigarette?
Cigarettes are made with dried tobacco leaves that naturally contain the drug nicotine. There are the things you can’t ignore-bad breath, yellow teeth, stained fingers and lips. Then there are the things you cannot see-the steep increased risk for lung cancer, fertility problems, heart disease, and stroke. If you are a smoker who is thinking of quitting or has tried to quit before, chances are you already know all the reasons why you should
Cigarette manufacturers add chemicals like ammonia, tar, lead, and cyanide and other ingredients, like cocoa, coffee, and menthol, to change the flavour of the tobacco in an attempt to make smoking more enjoyable. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), more than 4,000 different chemicals have been identified in cigarettes and cigarette smoke. Of those 4,000 chemicals, 60 are known to cause cancer. These cancer-causing chemicals are called carcinogens.
Smoking and Disease Risk
The leading cause of death worldwide in men and women is heart disease. Smoking increases your risk for heart disease two to four times compared to a non-smoker. The same thing goes for your risk of stroke. Smoking narrows your blood vessels, cause obstruction of the large arteries in your arms and legs.
If you continue to smoke, this can cause a range of complications including pain, muscle determination, and eventually muscle death.
Smoke damages your lungs and your airways, putting you at greater risk for respiratory (breathing) disease. In men, the risk of developing lung cancer increases 23 times if you are a smoker. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women, and smoking increases a woman's chance of the disease 13 times that of non-smokers.
Smoking and Death
Smoking remains the number one cause of preventable disease and death worldwide. In addition, second-hand smoke kills tens of thousands of people who never took a single puff in their lives each year. On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than non-smokers. If you don't quit, you could be one of the estimated millions smokers who die each year from a disease or complication attributable to smoking.
Here's some good news, though: The moment you are no longer a smoker, your risks for many diseases and health complications begin to fall. In fact, according to the American Cancer Society, one year after you smoke your last cigarette, your increased risk of heart disease is reduced by half. Fifteen years later, the risk for heart disease is similar to that of people who've never lit up. The same is true for the risk of stroke. Your health and the fate of your health are not set in stone. You can change your future by making the decision to quit.
Smoking and risk in pregnant women
For women who are pregnant and still smoking, you are damaging the health and future health of your unborn child. Babies born to mothers who smoke are about 30 percent more likely to be born prematurely, and those who do make it full term are more likely to have a low birth weight.
Babies born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy are also at a greater risk of sudden infant death.
DR AZADEH Is there a safe way to smoke cigarettes?
Smokers have been led to believe that “light” cigarettes are a lower health risk and are a good option to quitting. This is not true. Studies have not found that the risk of lung cancer is any lower in smokers of "light" or low-tar cigarettes.
Hand-rolled cigarettes are thought by some people to be a cheaper and healthier way to smoke, but they are not safer than commercial brands. In fact, life-long smokers of hand-rolled cigarettes have been found to have a higher risk of cancers of the larynx (voice box), oesophagus (swallowing tube), mouth, and pharynx (throat) when compared with smokers of machine-made cigarettes.
Planning to Quit? Start Here
Developed a strong will and think on deathly disease caused by smoking, think on the member of your family who getting involved through your habit and harmed. Perhaps you promised yourself you would quit when you graduated, when you turned 30, when you had your first child. You promised your family you would quit just as soon as you got settled at your new job, found the right program, or you retired. Every year, millions people worldwide make a promise to themselves and to their families to quit cigarettes once and for all. And every year, millions of people succeed. You can be one of them.
If you smoke, you know the damage your habit is doing to your body-shorter life span, dramatic increase in cancer risks, quicker aging process. You probably know more than one lifetime smoker who lost a battle with lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, or heart disease.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) - such as patches, gums, and inhalers - deliver to your body the nicotine it is craving in a much safer form than cigarettes. Over time, you reduce the amount of nicotine you consume until you have hopefully curbed your cravings entirely.
Alternative Therapies
Procedures, herbal medicine, acupuncture and meditation can address some of the mental and physical habits you have developed around cigarettes. Some people who have quit use these therapies alone, while others use them in conjunction with medicines or nicotine replacements.
You can probably recite the roadblocks one encounters when trying to kick the habit-relapse, weight gain, withdrawal.
Each person's journey is different. Each success brings with it a new difficulty, and each milestone you reach-one week without lighting up, one month, one year-brings untold joy to you and your family. In the end, the decision to quit should be yours, but the journey does not have to be taken alone.
Many people who want to quit do not know where to start, what to do, or who to turn to. In this article, you will find answers to many of the most common questions: Why should I quit? What plan is right for me? What happens if I relapse? Help those around you, and make a better start in your smoke-free life.
For further information and advice you can call Dr Azadeh on 7774469 /3774469, between 4-6 pm working days and
THE FRANCIS DeGAULLE NJIE FOUNDATION (FDNF) on 8903104/3903104.
