What smoking does to your body

THE EDITOR: Smoking is a great health hazard because of its effects on the body. Smoking can cause diseases of the lungs and heart. It is estimated that every cigarette shortens a smoker’s life 14 minutes. One hundred thousand die prematurely each year from smoking related diseases. That’s 11 people every hour! Some 300,000 young people smoke at least one cigarette a week. All drugs can be dangerous when abused, and abuse of drugs is one of the greatest health problems in our society. Cigarettes are made of dried tobacco leaves. When the leaves are burnt, about 4,000 chemicals are produced, all of which are harmful to the human body. There are five “killers” in tobacco smoke, nicotine, tar, irritants, cancer-causing chemicals and carbon monoxide.

The nicotine causes addiction, damages brain tissues, causes blood to clot more easily and hardens the walls of arteries. Tar kills cells in air passages and in lungs resulting in lung cancer. The Carbon monoxide gas stops oxygen from going into the blood. Irritants causes smoker’s cough and lung cancer. It also kills cells in the lungs. The major effects of smoking on the body are; nicotine stains, teeth yellow, throat infections develop, nicotine stains the fingers, sense of smell and taste deteriorates and stomach ulcers are more frequent. It takes 7.5 seconds for nicotine to reach the brain from the lungs. Nicotine also increases blood pressure by narrowing the blood vessels, which causes you to be more tense. Smoking also causes your skin to wrinkle at an earlier age than normal. If pregnant women smoke, the chances are that the baby will be smaller than normal or may be premature, and the likelihood of infant death is increased.

Smoking damages the air sacs of the lungs. This can result in emphysema. People with emphysema have difficulty breathing and very quickly lose their breath even during a light exercise. Smokers have a much higher risk of gum disease. Bronchitis is another major disease. It is caused when the air passages become inflamed. So the mucus, dirt and bacteria stay in your lungs. Millions of people have died of emphysema and bronchitis in the world. A person who smokes not only harms himself, he also harms others around him. People who do not smoke but breathe in tobacco smoke (passive smokers) are at risk also. Passive smokers, especially those who live together with heavy smokers are likely to suffer from sore eyes, smoker’s cough, headaches and lung cancer caused by inhaling side stream tobacco smoke, particularly if they suffer from asthma or hay fever. Smokers are not only destroying their lives but others.

Over half of the youth population in Trinidad and Tobago are smokers. Some smokers suffer while still at school. Children who smoke have an increased risk of suffering health problems such as bronchitis, ear, nose and throat infections, pneumonia and asthmatic attacks while still at school.
Smokers are more frequently absent from school, and are more likely to be under-achievers and to achieve lower grades overall than non-smokers. Young people become addicted to nicotine at an early age, but do not recognise their dependence until it is well established. It is always worth giving up if you do smoke. The risk of getting lung cancer and other diseases falls after smokers give up. I hope smokers take this message seriously. For the youths who haven’t started, always say, “no” to drugs and for the smokers, “stop smoking, don’t throw away your precious life.”

VENAI RAMSUMAIR
Cunupai