STOP TOBACCO/SMOKING

Unless you decide to stop, your problem isn't going to be Tobacco - your problem is going to be staying alive. Tobacco is the single largest killer of our times. So Stop. Tobacco is no substitute for life.

Some ugly facts about smoking

Tobacco contains nicotine, which in small amounts can stimulate, in larger amounts tranquilize and yet larger doses, kill., If the nicotine from one cigarette is injected directly into the blood, it will kill. Nicotine is so strong a poison it is used to kill insects that don't die with the regular pesticide! Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide - the same stuff that comes out of car exhausts! The yellow brown tar in cigarettes causes cancer. Take a clean handkerchief and exhale one puff of cigarette smoke into it - look at the pale yellow smudge...a mixture of poisons and irritants that smokers inhale hundreds of times a day, letting it rot your body. There are other dangerous ingredients in cigarettes - some of them same as those used in lavatory cleaning fluids. They are present in amounts not even considered safe industrially. The cigarette that takes five minutes to smoke, shortens your life by five minutes each time.

SMOKING-RELATED DISEASES

Tobacco in all forms (Pan Masala, Kimam, Khaini, Cigarrettes, Cigar, Bidi ) causes these damages in different degrees.

Coronary heart disease, in which blood supply to the heart gets reduced by tobacco increased tby tobacco abuse, specially smoking.

Some of the symptoms are:

• squeezing pain in the center of the chest, spreading to shoulder/neck/arm.
• the pain may be accompanied by nausea, sweating, and shortness of breath.

Chronic Bronchitis and Emphysema, in which the lining of the air tubes in the lungs becomes inflamed and damaged.

Some symptoms are -

• chronic cough with sputum
• shortness of breath, with dizziness
• general weakness, tiring easily

Lung Cancer : About 90% of cases of lung cancer patients are smokers. The risk of getting lung cancer is fifteen times high in smokers

Some of the symptom of lung cancer are:

• persistent cough and shortness of breath
• sputum with cough, sometimes with blood stains
• unexplained weight loss and weakness

Other Cancers : Cancer of the mouth, larynx, food-pipe, and the urinary bladder, also become more likely in tobacco users/smokers.

Other illnesses : Smoking causes many other illness including Sinusitis and peptic ulcers. It causes Berger's disease which causes ulcers in the foot which do not heal. When added to the exposure we have to dust and fumes, it increases the likelihood of allergies, asthama and ill health.

PASSIVE SMOKING

Eighty percent of the smoke from a cigarette is breathed by a non-smoker. Children particularly, are at higher risk of getting smoking related diseases when they have parents who smoke. The danger to pregnant women is well known - it can lead to babies who are still born, or born with a low birth weight.

REDUCE THE DANGER OF SMOKING

Take some of the danger out of smoking with these methods. But remember, these are only temporary. The only way to stay healthy is to stop completely.

• Choose a cigarette with less nicotine and tar.
• Don't smoke your cigarette right down to the bottom - the most tar and nicotine is in the last few puffs.
• Take fewer drags on each cigarette. This way, you'll cut down on your smoking without really missing the cigarette.
• Reduce your inhaling. Try to take shallow drags.
• Don't smoke in a closed or A.C. room, definitely not when others specially children are around.

Those who prefer to cut down can do so in many ways.

• One way is to keep postponing a cigarette.
• Another is to set a 'no smoking' period each day.
• You can also allow yourself only one cigarette an hour, and then increase that hour to two, and so on.
• It also helps to make it more difficult to get at the cigarettes. Don't keep them in their usual place. Delay lighting the cigarette.
• Shift to a brand you don't like.

AFTER YOU STOP

Withdrawal Symptoms

Because your body has gotten used to a regular intake of nicotine, withdrawal symptoms are experienced on stopping. The symptoms include : headaches, anxiety, irritability, tiredness, inability to concentrate, over-eating, general discomfort, constipation, dizziness, nausea, muscle cramps, fainting etc.

Some tips:

Here are some suggestions to see you through :

• Drink plenty of water or juice. Eat fresh fruit suck at some toffees, chew on gum, ginger or illaichi.
• Because the appetite improves once you stop smoking, you will find that you are hungry all the time. Maintain a healthy and balanced diet, rich in vitamins. If you tend to gain weight easily, exercise to make up for it.
• Nicotine chewing gum is helpful for some people, and it is available in some places here, but to be used as a temporary replacement for tobacco.
• Vigorous exercise can be very helpful for some people. When you stop smoking, it can make you irritable and easily angered. Exercise can reduce this. (Check with your physician before starting a workout)!
• Give yourself enough time after you stop.. After all, it will mean a change of many of your habits and this can't happen overnight but taking tobacco even once can start a relapse.
• Keep yourself occupied. Avoid places or people reminding you of the smoke/tobacco.

It is useful to consult a doctor or psychiatrist if withdrawals are unmanageable.

SOME WORDS OF CAUTIONS :

Don't try to get through the withdrawal period by using sedatives. This will simply lead to replacing one drug with another. Chewing tobacco Or paan masala can lead to the same problems as caused by cigarette smoking.

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