World day without smoking
If you think you've done everything to stop smoking, don’t give up, try again with more energy, more desire, visualize a healthy life without nicotine, without the imminent risk of a heart attack or getting a lung or throat cancer.
Each May 31, it is the World day without Snuff, since 25 years ago, established by the World Health Organization (WHO), aimed to raise awareness of the damages caused by the snuff in a smoker and those found around them.
From this web space, we want that you, talking about this date, try to leave your cigarette addiction, which in a short time can cause you some affection and not only to you but to those around you and your family.
According to the WHO, each year, there are nearly five million of deaths from diseases related to the consumption of snuff.
In just Spain, the Spanish Society of Tobacco Specialists estimate that every 10 minutes someone dies from causes directly related to snuff, that is, 6 per hour, 150 day, 1,050 a week, 4,500 per month and about 55,000 a year.
And the risk of lung cancer in wives of smokers is 30% higher than wives of nonsmokers.
What can happen
In short term
If you are a smoker or smoking-dependent, this addition cause you bad breathe, and will generate an excess of saliva that makes you spit continuously.
The hands, fingers and nails of a smoker are yellow and smell like nicotine. The skin is pale.
It should be noted that the smoking habits of parents influences the health of their children since before they are born and throughout infancy.
Mothers who smoke have a higher rate of spontaneous abortion and stillbirth. Their newborns have a lower average weight than non-exposed to cigarette smoke (200 to 400 grams lighter).
Maternal smoking is strongly associated with bronchitis and pneumonia in infants, which may persist up to 5 years of the child.
The larynx, which cover the vocal cords, is one of the organs attacked by snuff. The first symptom is manifested by hoarseness and aphonia. Coughing helps to irritate the larynx, therefore our voice is altered.
It affects our breathing and reduces our ability to do sports. Carbon monoxide, which enters the body through cigarette smoke, causes lack of oxygen, altering the heart and respiratory system.
It affects the taste. People who smoke have less appetite and suffer from digestive discomfort of all kinds.
In the medium term
Progressively, it destroys your lungs.
Chronic bronchitis manifests as chronic cough and lasts two or more consecutive years. The end result is a "fatigue" or difficulty while breathing that in extreme cases prevent blowing your nose.
Destruction of the denture. The mouth suffers chronic irritation and inflammation causing thickening of the mucosa (stomatitis) and gums (gingivitis). Added the accumulation of plaque on teeth.
Cigarette smoking increases the sebum production, causing a greater tendency to dandruff in the scalp and acne.
Decreases circulation of the skin and alter its normal nutrition. As a result the skin becomes pale and more yellow, it dehydrates and wrinkles appear more easily. Even in young women, the skin loses its freshness.
Sexual impotence occurs earlier in smokers. Nicotine causes a decrease in circulation in the nerve centers of the spinal cord and genitals.
Snuff addiction is responsible for 20% of cardiovascular deaths in individuals of 65 years or more. At ages under 65 years, it is the cause of 45% of cardiac deaths.
Nicotine stimulates increased heart rate and blood pressure, leading to serious cardiac arrhythmias; some causes sudden death in coronary patients.
Smoking also favors the increase of blood cholesterol.
In the long term
The smoker is a sure candidate for lung cancer. Two thirds of cases occur in men. The dramatic increase of 250% is parallel to the growth of cigarette consumption. Currently the numbers decreased slightly in men and increased in the case of women (5% per year). Since 1987 more women have died from lung cancer than breast cancer.
The laryngeal cancer is another consequence. The mechanism of action is the direct contact of smoke with the larynx.
Oral cavity cancer: the snuff causes cancers cell (similar to the lung) on the tongue, salivary glands (saliva production), mouth and pharynx.
Bladder cancer and kidney: Smoking clearly contributes to the generation of bladder and kidney cancer. 12% of urinary cancer deaths are attributable to snuff.
Emphysema is an irreversible damage to the air bag (alveoli) located at the end of the bronchi and which are inflated excessively.
Give up your addiction
The choice is yours, think about these losses and prepare to quit. Set a day in short term, may be the birthday of one of your children, the day of r wedding anniversary, or maybe today. Mark your calendar, talk to your family, coworkers, with your friends about this decision. Stand firm and do not be tempted to smoke again. Studies show that smokers who quit smoking at once feel less need to smoke and therefore have lower physical and psychological symptoms than those who attempted to quit gradually.
The symptoms of wanting to smoke usually disappear in one to two weeks after the activity has ceased, but you can still feel the need for a while. Help yourself by drinking fluids and fruit juices, especially those with vitamin C that will help to eliminate nicotine from your body and withstand the urge to smoke.
Remember that this anxiety will not be forever, you will be the same as before, even better.