SMOKING; EXPECTATIONS VS REALITIES

Tobacco smoking is the practice of burning tobacco and ingesting the smoke that is produced. The smoke may be inhaled, as is done with cigarettes, or simply released from the mouth, as is done with pipes and cigars. 

Smoking is a hard habit to break because tobacco contains the very addictive chemical nicotine. As with heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind quickly get used to the nicotine in cigarettes. Soon, a person needs to have it just to feel normal.

EXPECTATIONS 

People smoke for different reasons. Some think it looks cool. Others start because their family members or friends smoke. Almost all adult tobacco users started before they were 18 years old. Most never expected to become addicted. That’s why it’s so much easier to not start smoking at all. Battery-operated e-cigarettes use cartridges filled with nicotine, flavourings, and other harmful chemicals and turn them into a vapour that’s inhaled by the user.

Some people think that e-cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes because they don’t contain tobacco. But the other ingredients in them are dangerous too. There are reports of serious lung damage and even death among people who use e-cigarettes. So health experts strongly warn against using them.

Hookahs are water pipes used to smoke tobacco through a hose with a mouthpiece. Some people think they’re safer than cigarettes because the smoke cools when it passes through the water. But look at the black gunk that builds up in a hookah hose. Some of that gets into users’ mouths and lungs. And since they don’t have filters and people often use them for long periods, their health risks might be even greater. Hookahs are usually shared, so there’s the added risk from germs being passed around along with the pipe. Anyone who has gone through a teenager phase will highly know the social and psychological toll it can take on an adolescent to fit in or be deemed “cool” at school. According to the American Cancer Society, before the age of 18, at least 9 out of 10 individuals turn into adult smokers. The younger you are when you smoke, the higher the chance of being addicted to nicotine. Therefore, people continue to smoke into their later years, even with the plans of quitting initially. Parental relationships are vital to a child who is still growing up. Therefore, when a child grows up in a home where they have regular encounters with a smoking parent, the child’s odds of starting smoking doubles as compared to a child brought up by non-smokers and plays a significant role in portraying the image of a smoker. 

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PROMOTING SMOKING

The media plays a significant role in portraying the image of a smoker. This is a common occurrence worldwide and throughout different periods. A study in Norway had shown that they reduced the prevalence of smoking in the long term by 9% when a ban on tobacco advertising was imposed in 1975.

A study has shown that a co-dependency on drugs may be genetic. The research involves an addiction to nicotine, which is an active ingredient in tobacco products like cigarettes. However, it is important to remember that studies that involve addiction in genetics do not mean that they automatically passed down a gene for addiction. It regards how susceptible an individual can be to take up a habit such as smoking. Further studies can be done to verify a pattern of addiction within a family line, officials may know where to direct their efforts to reduce the risk of tobacco addiction relieves their stress. While cigarettes can do well in the short term to numb yourself, they may cause you to smoke even more solely because nicotine is so addictive. Some people become stressed and become regular smokers, even if they initially only smoked because of the calming effect the nicotine in a cigarette has. Nicotine becomes a chemical and psychological crutch every time a high-pressure situation arises. Nicotine continuously maintains the withdrawal cycle on the brain and body, which binds you to your smoking habit. They can overcome this addiction by eliminating the psychological reasons for smoking.

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REALITY; It is almost impossible to stop smoking.

Many of the chemicals in cigarettes, like nicotine and cyanide, are poisons that can kill in high doses. The body is smart. It goes on the defence when it’s being poisoned. First-time smokers often feel pain or burning in their throat and lungs, and some even throw up the first few times they try tobacco.

Over time, smoking leads to health problems such as

heart disease

stroke

lung damage

many types of cancer — including lung, throat, stomach, and bladder cancer

Other problems include:

gum disease

yellow teeth

eye disease

an increased risk for infections (like pneumonia)

a greater risk of diabetes

weaker bones that are easier to break

skin problems like psoriasis (a type of rash),

wrinkled skin

ulcers

Smoking can affect sexual health in both men and women. Girls who smoke and are on hormone-based birth control methods like the Pill, the patch, or the ring have a higher risk of serious health problems, like heart attacks. And if a woman wants to get pregnant, smoking can make that harder.

Besides these long-term problems, the chemicals in cigarettes and other products also can affect the body quickly. Teen smokers can have many of these problems:

Bad breath. Cigarettes leave smokers with a condition called halitosis or lasting bad breath.

Bad-smelling clothes and hair. The smell of stale smoke lasts — not just on people’s clothing, but on their hair, furniture, and cars. It’s hard to get the smell of smoke out.

Trouble keeping up in sports. Smokers usually can’t compete well with nonsmokers. Physical effects of smoking, like a fast heartbeat, decreased circulation, and shortness of breath, harm sports performance.

Greater risk of injury and slower healing time. Smoking hurts the body’s ability to make collagen. So common sports injuries, such as damage to tendons and ligaments, will heal more slowly in smokers than nonsmokers.

Increased risk of illness. Studies show that smokers get sick more with colds, flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia than nonsmokers. And people with some health conditions, like asthma, get sicker if they smoke (and often if they’re just around people who smoke). Teens who smoke to manage their weight often light up instead of eating. So their bodies can lack the nutrients needed to grow, develop, and fight off illness well.

Reference; Nemours || Wikipedia.