Alarming facts about smoking
Smoking problems are nothing new to the world, but what’s relatively new, thanks to the exponential growth of information technology, is the accumulation of smoking-related data. It reveals a set of horrific facts pertaining to nicotine addiction. It is estimated that the number of regular smokers in Great Britain is approximately 10 million, out of which 22% are male smokers and 20% are female smokers. More than 110,000 Britons die prematurely every year because of smoking.
According to Cancer Research UK, around 24% teenagers in the age group of 16-19 years smoke regularly. Fortunately, the total number of adult smokers in the UK is on the decline since early 1990s. Quit smoking programs have been successful to a great extent in building awareness among the masses. But a lot is still left to be done as the following statistics would reveal.
Smoking and lung cancer
The link between tobacco addiction and lung cancer is well established. In the UK, 86 out of every 100 lung cancer deaths are caused by tobacco smoking alone. Smokers are 10-20 times at risk of developing lung cancer compared to non-smokers. It is estimated that risk of lung cancer is significantly lower in people who stop smoking, compared to people who continue to smoke.
Tobacco smoking also causes a number of other cancers, including oesophageal cancer, throat cancer, oral cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, cervical cancer, and kidney cancer. Smoking accounts for about 25% of all cancer-related deaths in the United Kingdom.
Smoking and dementia
A study showed that heavy smokers are twice at risk of developing Alzheimer’s than people who are occasional or social smokers. Middle-aged people who smoke more than two packets of cigarettes a day are at 172% increased risk of suffering from vascular dementia compared to non-smokers.
Nicotine and heart diseases
Nicotine is one of the major risk factors for coronary artery disease. Risk of heart attack or stroke is significantly greater in smokers than in ex- or non-smokers. Involuntary or passive smoking can also increase the risk of chronic respiratory as well as heart problems. Much of the damage caused to the heart by cigarette smoke is reversible after quitting.
What does cigarette smoke contain?
Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 harmful substances a majority of which are carcinogenic and highly toxic. Some of them are: acetone, ammonia, tar, cadmium, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, naphthalene, vinyl chloride, cyanide, and arsenic. Regular inhalation of these toxins and chemicals can pose lethal health risks and lower life expectancy by some margin.
Some interesting but alarming facts:
- It is difficult to stop smoking because nicotine alters the brain receptors permanently.
- It does not take too many cigarettes a day to get addicted to smoking. A total of 6 cigarettes, just a tad more than half a packet of cigarette a day, can make it extremely difficult for a person to overcome the withdrawal symptoms when he/she tries to quit smoking.
- About 80% of the total number of smokers start smoking in their teens and remain addicted lifelong.
- Switching to mild or ultra-mild cigarettes does not help much as a smoker would invariably suck in longer and harder to get the same amount of stimulation. This can only increase the risk of peripheral lung tumours.
What are the options available to stop smoking?
Professional counseling and behavioural treatments for smoking cessation have gained in popularity in recent years. Among the many treatment options that are currently available, a quit smoking medicine called Champix (varenicline tartrate) is worth a mention. Champix tablets can help even a long-term smoker quit successfully. The medicine is available only on prescription.