The Sunday News
UNFORTUNATELY, cigarette smoking is one of the leading preventable causes of death in many continents including Africa.
Unfortunately, the prevalence is on the rise. We don’t exactly say one died of smoking, no, we say one died for example from a stroke which was caused by smoking.
Smoking causes more deaths each year than the following causes combined
— Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
— Illegal drug use
— Alcohol use
— Motor vehicle injuries
— Firearm-related incidents
Smoking causes about 90 percent (or 9 out of 10) of all lung cancer deaths in men and women. More women die from lung cancer each year than from breast cancer.
Please refer to one of my articles on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). About 80 percent (or 8 out of 10) of all deaths from COPD are caused by smoking.
Cigarette smoking increases risk for death from all causes in men and women.
Risk Factors
Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer. Here, are a few statistics to help you visualise the effects of smoking:
Smoking is estimated to increase the risk:
— For coronary heart disease by two to four times
— For stroke by two to four times
— Of men developing lung cancer by 25 times
— Of women developing lung cancer by 25,7 times
— Smoking causes diminished overall health, increased absenteeism from work, and increased health care utilisation and cost.
Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease
Smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease).
Smoking causes stroke and coronary heart disease, which are among the leading causes of death in Africa.
Even people who smoke fewer than five cigarettes a day can have early signs of cardiovascular disease.
Smoking damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower. This makes your heart beat faster and your blood pressure go up. Clots can also form.
A stroke occurs when a clot blocks the blood flow to part of your brain or when a blood vessel in or around your brain bursts.
Please refer to my previous article on stroke for more information.
Blockages caused by smoking can also reduce blood flow to your legs and skin.
Smoking and Respiratory diseases
Smoking can cause lung disease by damaging your airways and the small air sacs (alveoli) found in your lungs.
Lung diseases caused by smoking include COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Cigarette smoking causes most cases of lung cancer.
If you have asthma, tobacco smoke can trigger an attack or make an attack worse.
Smoking and Cancer
Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body.
Bladder
Blood (acute myeloid leukemia)
Cervix
Colon and rectum (colorectal)
Esophagus
Kidney and ureter
Larynx
Liver
Oropharynx (includes parts of the throat, tongue, soft palate, and the tonsils)
Pancreas
Stomach
Trachea, bronchus, and lung
Smoking also increases the risk of dying from cancer and other diseases in cancer patients and survivors.
If nobody smoked, one of every three cancer deaths in the United States would not happen.
Smoking and Other Health Risks
Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and affects a person’s overall health.
Smoking can make it harder for a woman to become pregnant and can affect her baby’s health before and after birth.
Smoking increases risks for:
— Pre-term (early) delivery
— Stillbirth (death of the baby before birth)
— Low birth weight
— Sudden infant death syndrome (known as SIDS or crib death)
— Ectopic pregnancy
— Orofacial clefts in infants
Smoking can also affect men’s sperm, which can reduce fertility and also increase risks for birth defects and miscarriage.
Smoking can affect bone health.
— Women past childbearing years who smoke have weaker bones than women who never smoked, and are at greater risk for broken bones.
Smoking affects the health of your teeth and gums and can cause tooth loss.
Smoking can increase your risk for cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens that makes it hard for you to see) and age-related macular degeneration (damage to a small spot near the center of the retina, the part of the eye needed for central vision).
Smoking is a cause of type two diabetes mellitus and can make it harder to control. The risk of developing diabetes is 30-40 percent higher for active smokers than nonsmokers.
Smoking causes general adverse effects on the body, including inflammation and decreased immune function.
Smoking is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis.
How to Quit
Quitting smoking cuts cardiovascular risks. Just one year after quitting smoking, your risk for a heart attack drops sharply.
Within two to five years after quitting smoking, your risk for stroke could fall to about the same as a non-smokers.
If you quit smoking, your risks for cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, and bladder drop by half within five years.
Ten years after you quit smoking, your risk for lung cancer drops by half.
Remember to “Take care of your busy body”.
For more information please email at [email protected]
Lee-Anne Hall Bsc Physiotherapy
