Everyday we can see people from teens to adults smoking a stick of cigarette. We can also see the word “Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health”, but do we really know the danger that this stick can bring to our lives?
How dangerous is it?
We all know that cigarette has lots of chemicals in it, but do we really know how dangerous they are?
Carcinogens
Carcinogens are substances that can cause or worsen an existing cancer, and Did you know?that in every stick of cigarette there are about 60 carcinogens present in this deadly little sticks.
Common Carcinogens present in a Cigarette
Benzene – Gasolines and pesticides contain this kind of chemical, and cigarette also contain this kind of harmful substance. There is a very high amount of Benzene in every stick of cigarette and half of our exposure to this hazardous chemical comes from cigarettes.
Formaldehyde – When the morgue needs to preserve a dead body they put Formaldehyde to prevent the body from decaying for some moment, this is also a very hazardous chemical and it is the reason why smokers experience throat, nose and eye irritation while smoking cigarette.
TSNA - Tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines are also present to cigarette sticks and is a kind of carcinogen.
Toxic Metals
Toxic metals or heavy metals are metals that when taken in a very small can support life (some), but when taken in large amount it can become toxic and might kill a person.
Common Toxic Metals present on cigarettes
Arsenic – Arsenic is a common ingredient for rat poisons and pesticides.
Cadmium – Cadmium is found on batteries, and inhaling batteries doesn’t sounds a good idea anyway.
Radioactive toxic metal
Lead (Pb) and Polonium (Po) are both radioactive and heavy metals and the good news here is that they are present in every cigarette sticks. Radioactive materials are very dangerous to our health, and they can cause abnormalities to our body such as shrinking the penis of a man or lower the sperm cell count.
Poisons
A poison is a substance that when inhaled, consumed or applied to a living thing can cause severe physical distress or death. On average, a single cigarette stick contains more than 200 types of poisons.
Most common poison in a cigarette
Amonia – This is a compound mostly used for cleaning and for fertilizers, it is also known to boost the effect of nicotine to smokers.
Carbon Monoxide – Car exhaust has a high amount of this poisonous gas, and a cigarette can contain a high amount of carbon monoxide too.
Hydrogen Cyanide – We all know Hitler right?And we know that he killed millions of Jews using the gas chamber. Hydrogen Cyanide is the exact poison used to kill the Jews in the gas chamber and is also present to cigarette.
And finally….
Nicotine – The very reason for your addiction to smoking, when your body became dependent to nicotine it will need continuous supply of nicotine or else you will feel uncomfortable, this is the reason why smokers always tell you that smoking can relieve stress, because the stress itself was created by the nicotine they inhaled with each cigarette they consume.
Why you should stop right now?
Health benefits
Cigarette smoking has been proven increase our life expectancy by about -10 minutes per stick, and the number of health benefits we can gain from smoking is not more than -100. Isn’t that great?
Some health benefits are:
-Cardiovascular diseases
-Cancer (Lung, Mouth and throat cancer are the most common)
-Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
-Bronchitis
-Emphysema
-Heart diseases
-High blood pressure
-Fertility Problems for both men and women
-It will worsen asthma (Smokers and Secondhand smokers)
-Increased risk to cataracts
-Stain in the teeth and gums
-Can increase the acid in your mouth and can cause ulcer
-Smoking can cause wrinkles and pale skin because of the lack of blood supply and Vitamin A
-Being dependent to cigarette (Nicotine)
-Possible risk to blood clot in the heart
-Erectile Dysfunction for men (Lack of bloodflow in the penis means lack of erection)
What will you get when you stop smoking?
-Normal blood pressure in the first 20 minutes of not smoking
-Oxygen level will return to normal 8 hours after stopping (Carbon Monoxide)
-Normal sense of taste and smell
-Nicotine will be removed in your system in the 2nd day
-Decreased chance of having a heart attack
-Increased energy level and relaxed bronchial tubes
-Lung capacities improves up to 10%
-Your chance of having a stroke will be the same of those non-smokers after 2 years
Death related to cigarette smoking
In the US alone there are about 500,000 annual death related to cigarette smoking where a large part of this is caused by Lung Cancer (2000-2004 Data).
1 out of 10 moderate smokers and 1 out 5 heavy smokers will die from Lung cancer.
Only 0.5% of people who never touched a cigarette developed Lung cancer.
Did you know?
Smoking a stick of cigarette will shorten your life by 11 minutes.
How to stop?
There are different methods to stop the urge to smoke every minute of your life, the only thing you need is to remove the nicotine in your body.
NRT – Also known as nicotine replacement treatment, they come in different types from patches, nasal spray or gum.
Zyban – It is a medicine licensed to help smoking cessation.
Champix (varenicline): Is a type of medicine that will mimic the effect of nicotine in your body, it also reduce the withdrawal symptoms and the chance of successfully quitting is doubled with this medicine.
Mind over matter – Without the will to stop you cannot stop no matter how many NRT you use or even if you overdose yourself with Champix. Controlling yourself not to smoke is the best remedy, it is normal to suffer from withdrawal symptoms but remember that this sacrifice will give a lifetime benefit to you and your love ones.
If you can’t control your body using your mind does this means that your body is more abundant than your mind?
Have mercy!
Second hand smoking is very common to everyone, children, men, women and elders suffer from this curse even if they do not smoke at all. Some merciless smokers don’t care if they are smoking in a public place or if there are people that can inhale their puffs, as long as they are satisfied they will do it regardless of the consequences that others might suffer. This is a common thing in a family where one of the members is a smoker, small children will suffer greatly from this, because their body is still young and their defense against these deadly toxins is still low. If you want to smoke then why not do it in a private place?or in a place designed for smoking, if you don’t care for your health please care for someone else health.
Recommended video: Great Anti-Smoking Advertisement
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