Smoking and its Harmful Effects

Deepak Kansal October 18, 2021 380 1

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Once upon a time, cigarette smoking was perceived as a glamorous habit by film stars and gangsters, afterward as a trend it was followed by teenagers and youngsters. In article Smoking for teen Joseph (2016) describes that smoking is very harmful to the smoker as well as for the people around him/her in the form of passive smoking. Due to harmful effects of smoking, like- cancer, emphysema (figure 1), breathing problem, heart attacks, and reduce the life expectancy; T.V. and radio advertisements are banned, and companies are no longer allowed to advertise on many of the magazines (Joseph, 2016). But on the other side, the trend of E-cigarette is increasing day by day among teenagers. It is a very big risk to their health as well as it is highly addictive ( CPI.Q, Gale,2019)

Figure1. Lung affected by emphysema

I read in this article that some people think once smoking is started then it is very hard to stop it. Because tobacco contains nicotine named substance which causes addiction like heroin and other addictive substances. Once people start smoking, then they need it daily to feel normal. And the teenagers who start smoking become adductors in future (Joseph, 2016). I am surprised to read people’s perception that hookah is safer than tobacco, but in fact, it is not. The reason is that hookahs do not have filters and hookahs are also shared, the chances of infection increase along with damage to the lungs.(Joseph,2016,para.8)

Another very important and confusing part I observed why teenagers and youngsters are attracted towards the E-cigarette and what it contains? How does it look like? Then, from both articles, I observed that e-cigarettes are the battery-operated or electronic devices which are also known as vape pens or vaporizers. It contains replaceable pods, chemicals, and nicotine which mix which each other while inhalation of vapors. The vapors also contain cadmium which causes breathing problem. Moreover, the high addiction caused because one pod of e-cigarette contain the amount of nicotine the same as the whole packet of tobacco (CPI.Q, Gale, 2019)

Figure 2. E-cigarette

Before reading these articles, I believed that smoking can cause only minor health problems, but these articles refine my perception. The article put a clear reflection on the human body that only needs food, water, sleep, and exercise but doesn’t need poisons like nicotine, cadmium, and cyanide. First time after smoking, burning sensation of the throat may be felt but afterward, it becomes normal and dependence. (Joseph,2016). Body defense the poisons itself very smartly, by using its defense mechanism of immunity. But after that, the nicotine affects health and develop symptoms of illness like heart disease, stroke, emphysema or breakdown of lungs tissue(Figure 1), many types of cancer – including lung, throat, stomach and bladder cancer. (Joseph,2016, para.12). The articles elucidate that at some extent the e-cigarette is safer than tobacco, but they lead to tobacco smoking within the six months of use (30% teens), though it is illegal (CPI.Q, Gale, 2019)

Furthermore, it is described in the article that smoking contains thousands of chemicals, from which 70 are known causes of cancer and it is responsible for 480,000 US deaths per year. ( CPI.Q, Gale, 2019, para.5). The studies revealed that a person ( especially teens) who is addicted to smoking is vulnerable to other drugs too. (para.7). As we have already discussed that once it started, it is very hard to get rid of smoking. But it depends upon the mental set up or internal motivation of the individual who wants to quit smoking. It is not very surprising that some people want extra support to stop smoking, for those people hospital and some other organizations like the American Cancer Society, are providing support and very good resources in smoking cessation. ( Joseph,2016)

The people are more concerned about what will happen if they quit smoking? After having long research, I find an interesting video that represents the withdrawal symptoms according to the span of time. And I think this is a very motivational video for those who have strong determination to cease smoking. The recovery of the body depends upon the time taken to cease smoking and the extent of damage caused to the body by smoking. Let’s have a look on video.

Figure 3: What happens when you stop smoking. (Asap science,2017)

I have learned from these articles that smoking has hazardous effects on health. The people who are already smokers, the e-cigarette is comparatively safe for them. But for those who are non-smokers, an e-cigarette is not safer. Because once it begins can lead to addiction to smoking and another addiction. The government should have to ban it strictly and set up a broader policy to diminish the sale of e-cigarette among under 18 years of age.

For more information about smoking and its effects, government rules and regulations click on the following links:

Finally, the last insight I have on these two articles related to the health impacts of smoking on individual and altogether on society. There is an abundance of sources that are contributing to the adulteration of health. To overcome this problem self-determination for smoking cessation is the initial step. After this additional support is useful. I think the only first step is hard to begin.

To put everything into a nutshell, smoking has not even a single benefit to health. Smoking by every means is bad for health. These are only some aspects of smoking but actually, it needs furthermore research in the field of e-smoking. I believe that it is very important to educate the public especially children and youth regarding the harmful effects of smoking which in turn would prove to be useful for the well being of society.

References

Asap Science. (2017). What happens when you stop smoking. [ youtube video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3I0mJ2RfU0

E-Cigarettes: A Dangerous Trend: The growing popularity of vaping devices is putting teens’ health at risk. (2019, March 4). Science World/Current Science, 75(9), 18+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.eztest.ocls.ca/ps/i.do?p=CPI&u=ko_acd_con&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA577394886&inPS=true&linkSource=interlink&sid=CPI#

Joseph, P. (2016, June). Smoking (for teens). Kids Health. Retrieved from https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/smoking.html

Joseph, P.(2016, June). The lung affected by emphysema[Image]. Retrieved from https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/smoking.html

Wikipedia contributors. (2019, July).Electronic cigarette[image]. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cigarette

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Deepak Kansal

I am a Dental Professional, Acquainted Content writer and creator, Imparting valuable dental knowledge through trickycare.com and working towards making a difference. Any information provided on the Trickycare platform is for general information only and does not constitute professional advice.

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