The Best Gift You Can Give

To Quit Smoking is the best gift you can give to yourself and to people you interact with everyday. Better not wait for Christmas day for it to become your Christmas gift to yourself and to people around you or for new year to make it  on priority list of your New Year’s resolution. You need to stop from smoking as soon as possible because it is harmful not just to your health but on people around you too.

One great reason to Stop Smoking? Did you know that there are more than 1,500 chemicals in a cigarette smoke that are harmful to your family health and some of it are cancer causing chemicals like benzine? People who live or work with smokers are exposed to these harmful chemicals everyday because these harmful chemicals can stick around the house or office for weeks. Yes, it takes an effort to quit from smoking, but you can quit if you really want to. Other people can help you quit from smoking but you’re the one who will decide if you really want to quit and when will you start not to smoke.

Did you know that you can even Stop Smoking In 14 Days? Yes, you can if you really want to. With the help of a stop smoking formula it is very much possible. Millions of former cigarette smokers are living proof that you can completely cease from smoking. Determination to stop is the key. Socializing with smokers and times of stress can lure back former smokers to go back to their former addiction. But, if you want to live longer with a healthy body, have a determination to stop smoking for good.

Poisons in Tobacco Smoke

Poisons in Tobacco Smoke

Poisonous? Consider tobacco smoke  as one. It contain lots of toxic substances that is threatening not just to the smokers but to your family health as well. Did you know that tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals including 200 poisonous and 40 carcinogenic compounds? It causes more than 40 diseases. No wonder, World Health Organization statistics showed that nearly 1 0f every 5 death nowadays are related to smoking. One in every seven seconds die from tobacco-related illness. It is due to either mainstream tobacco smoking or through passive (involuntary) smoking.

Here are some of the carcinogenic compounds you can find on tobacco smoke:

4-Aminobiphenyl
-It is confirmed to cause cancer in humans. Bladder, lung, colon, and breast cancers have been associated with 4-ABP.

-The worst thing about 4-ABP is it can cross the placenta & render child susceptible to bladder cancer.

Arsenic
-Inorganic arsenic is present in tobacco smoke and has been linked to lung, skin, bladder, liver, kidney and prostate cancers.

Benzene
-Study showed that high levels of benzene may cause low birth weights, delayed bone formation and bone marrow damage in animals.

-Benzene is highly toxic. Inhalation of extremely high levels of benzene may cause rapid heart rate, confusion, tremors, drowsiness, dizziness, headache, unconsciousness or even death.

-All three blood cell lines may be unfavorably affected by long term exposure to benzene. Low white blood cells or leucopenia, low red blood cells or anemia and low platelet count or thrombocytopenia may exist in varying degree. In case where there is a reduction in all three blood cell lines it is already called pancytopenia, this may happen due toxicity from long term exposure to benzene from tobacco smoking.

-Chronic exposure to benzene through tobacco smoke may also lead to increase risk of acquiring leukemia and, in many cases, is preceded by aplastic anemia.

Cadmium
-Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal pollutant that can be found in tobacco smoke. Tobacco smoke is an important source of air cadmium because tobacco leaves naturally accumulate and concentrate quite high levels of cadmium.

- An average cigarette contains approximately 1.05 micrograms/g of cadmium in cigarette with filter tip and approximately 1.61 micrograms/g in regular cigarette. And, about 10% of the cadmium content in cigarette is inhaled when it is smoked.

-Exposure to high levels of cadmium may lead to high blood pressure, anemia and renal failure, lung and, or liver damage.

-It is also considered as possible carcinogen.

Chromium
-As you inhale air containing chromium, like in tobacco smoke, chromium enters your body. Did you know that some forms of chromium can remain in the lungs for several years or longer?

-When you breathe air containing chromium, some of the chromium will enter your body through your lungs. Some forms of chromium can remain in the lungs for several years or longer.

-The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that chromium (VI) compounds are carcinogenic to humans. The National Toxicology Program 11th Report on Carcinogens classifies chromium (VI) compounds as known to be human carcinogens. Inhalation of chromium has been shown to cause lung cancer.

-It can cause respiratory problems, depressed immune system- resulting to a lower ability to fight disease, birth defects and other developmental problem, infertility and tumor formation.

2-Naphthylamine
-It can cause bladder cancer.

N-Nitrosodiethylamine
-It can induce benign and malignant tumors in respiratory, upper digestive tracts, liver and kidneys.

N-Nitrosopyrrolidine
-It can produce hepatocellular carcinomas, one of the top in leading liver cancer death type worldwide.

N-Nitrosodiethanolamine
-It is connected to esophageal cancer.

Nickel
-The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that some nickel compounds are carcinogenic to humans.

-More nickel is absorbed from the lungs into the body when nickel particles readily dissolve in water. If it does not easily dissolved in water, like chromium, nickel particles may remain in the lungs for a long time, and can only be excreted from lungs through coughing out or swallowing the mucus.

-Unborn child can be exposed to nickel through maternal blood supply to fetus.

-Babies are exposed to nickels through breastmilk of mother who is exposed to nickel and through passive tobacco smoking.

-It causes reduced lung function, chronic bronchitis, and cancer of the lung and nasal sinus

Lead-210 and Polonium-210 (Radon)
-Did you know that tobacco leaves used in making cigarettes contain radioactive materials? Yes, lead-210 and polonium-210 are radioactive materials.

- Lead-210 and polonium-210 are toxic radioactive heavy metals. They build up over time in delicate lung tissue and are a key risk factor for lung cancer. How? Tar from tobacco smoke builds up in the bronchioles; accumulated tar traps lead-210 and polonium-210 against the tissues of the bronchioles. Most of what is deposited in the bronchioles is lead-210 which has a half life of 22.3 years; eventually it decays and become dominant radionuclide. On the other hand, polonium-210 has only half life of 138 days but it quickly increases in concentration, thus, over the time, as its concentration rises, an intense localized radiation doses may occur in the bronchioles.

-Researchers believe that lead-210 and polonium-210 in tobacco smoke are significant factors for lung cancer in smokers.

Vinyl Chloride
-Inhalation of high levels of vinyl chloride may cause dizziness, drowsiness or even death.

-Chronic exposure to vinyl chloride may cause severe nerve damage and immune reactions.

-The World Health Organization has determined that vinyl chloride is a human carcinogen.

-Vinyl chloride, has also been shown to have an effect on human reproductive system.

Properties of Tobacco

Properties of Tobacco

What are the properties of tobacco that made it the number one killer nowadays? Tobacco is a slow poison that has harmful effect on the physical, mental, and moral powers. In general, cancer deaths are declining but, lung cancer deaths are rising because of tobacco smoking. Nicotine keeps people to smoke despite its harmful effects. Research showed that nicotine, like many other drugs, causes physical and psychological dependence.

Nicotine is the drug in tobacco leaves. It belongs to the category of stimulant drugs. How someone can deliver nicotine to the brain? Simply by smoking, chewing, or sniffing the powder form of tobacco leaves, you can deliver nicotine to your brain. Each cigarette contains approximately 10 milligrams of nicotine. Nicotine is a powerful drug that if pure nicotine content of two cigars were injected into bloodstream, death would result. Smokers can absorb 1 to 2 milligrams of nicotine to its lungs from each cigarette they smoke.

Did you know that lots of young people nowadays have an alternative to cigarettes? They call it “bidis.” It is popular to young people because they think it is less harmful compared to cigarettes. And, it comes in attractive packages, lots of color and flavor to choose from, which attracts the consumers to smoke more. Behind its attractive color and flavor is a much more harmful effect to the lungs, because bidis has more nicotine content compared to cigarettes.

In tobacco smoking, nicotine stimulates the flow of saliva, raises blood pressure, increases heart rate, causes narrowing of blood vessels, lowers the skin temperature and dulls the appetite. Like other stimulants, the aftereffect is depression of body functions. Like caffeine ingestion, smokers also develop a tolerance to nicotine.

Like nicotine, tar is a harmful by-product of tobacco. It is a yellowish brown sticky residue formed when gases and tobacco smoke particles condense. It bears carcinogenic hydrocarbons that have tumor promoting activity. It can cause cancerous and, or non-cancerous tumors in the lungs. Therefore, tar may be the primary cause of smoking-related cancers.

Are you familiar with carbon monoxide (CO)? Tobacco smoke contains high level of carbon monoxide (CO) that can affect the smoker and those who can inhale the secondhand smoke. High carbon monoxide level in the blood is one of the main factors why smokers suffer from heart diseases. Nicotine and platelet aggregation due to cigarette smoke are some of the factors too.

Did you know that tobacco smoke contains approximately four thousand chemicals? Two hundred of those chemicals are known poison and about 60 are suspected to cause cancer.

Connection Of Smoking To Heart Disease

smoking

What is the most common cause of death nowadays and why? It is cardiovascular disease and the common cause of it is wrong lifestyle, especially vices like smoking. Beyond 50 percent of these deaths are due to coronary artery disease and about 20 percent of it are due to stroke.

Smoking increases atherosclerosis, the disease of coronary arteries, and there’s an increase in all forms of stroke due to smoking. Cigarette smoking remains to be the most significant “changeable” risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) nowadays. Changeable since it can still be modified through healthy lifestyle.

Nicotine and carbon monoxide, the two harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke, hastens the damage of blood vessels through arterial diseases. Smoking triggers the blood pressure to rise up, decrease the amount of oxygen that enters heart muscle and augment the tendency of the blood to form clot.

Smoking causes lung damage. Circulation in the blood vessels in the lungs are altered, from its normal low pressure system smoking triggers the pressure to rise. Rise pressure in the lungs stresses the pumping chamber or the right ventricle of the heart – which is designed to function with low pressure, causing a permanent damage to the heart. Not only that, it has been noted that nicotine has numbing effect for early pain associated with a heart attack so they are prone to seek medical help when they are on critical stage already.

More than a billion of people worldwide smokes nowadays plus the nonsmokers who have passive exposure to cigarette smoke who are much more in number compared to the smokers. Imagine the risk they are into. In general, smoking has lots of negative effect to our health,especially on cardiovascular system. If these about 1 billion people stop smoking and follow a healthy lifestyle, risk factor of diseases due to smoking will be cut off as well. Prevention from smoking is a best antidote of this problem. Preventing non-smoking population to start this vice is the best scheme.