By Patrick Osu
In 2001/2002 when the Federal Government officially declared that smoking is dangerous to health and subsequently outlawed smoking in public places, many Nigerians were adamant, busy smoking out their lives. Health is very critical to life. In the course of my interaction with friends who indulge in smoking, there is the general belief that it keeps them alert, induces sleep, while some said they find pleasure, and others, especially students, see it as fun.
For Europeans, they said it keeps them warm because of their climatic condition. For whatever reasons that make one engage in smoking be it cigarette, grass or weeds, we must weigh the devastating effect of these fleeing illusions into our body system.
During this year’s World Family Doctors Day celebration organized by the family medicine department of Our Lady of Apostles Hospital in Jos, Dr. Chijioke Nkem and Dr. (Sr). Bridget Yabo quoted the World Health Organization report that people who started smoking in their teens and continued for two decades or more will die 20 to 25 years earlier than those who never light up.
According to them, it is not just lung cancer or heart disease that cause serious health problems and death, but the side effects beginning from head to toe.
Psoriasis being one of the side effects and non contagious inflammatory skin condition leaves itchy, cozing red patches all over the body.
Another one is cataracts which we often hear and encounter that smoking is believed to cause or worsen several eye conditions. Smokers have 40 percent higher rate of cataracts, a clouding of the eye’s lens that blocks light and may lead to blindness. Smoke causes cataracts by irritating the eyes and by releasing chemicals to the eyes. Smoking is associated age-related macular degeneration, an incurable eye disease caused by deterioration of the central portion of the retina, known as the macular. The macular is responsible for focusing central vision in the eye and controls our ability to read, drive a car, recognize faces or color and see objects in fine detail.
Wrinkling of the body is one of the effects. Smoking prematurely ages skin by wearing away proteins that give it elasticity, depleting it of vitamin A and restricting free flow of blood.
Smokers’ skin dries, leathery and etched with tiny lines especially around the lips and eyes.
Smokers experience hearing loss because it creates plaque on blood vessel walls, decreasing blood flow to the inner ear, and they can equally lose their hearing earlier than non smokers. They are more susceptible to hearing loss caused by ear infections or loud noise. Smokers are also three times more likely than non smokers to get middle ear infections.
It is no longer news about the ravaging disease of cancer in the world. More than 40 chemical substances have been discovered to have caused cancer. Smokers are 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non smokers. According to a scientific study, smoking causes about 90 percent of lung cancers in men and 80 percent in women and the longer one smokes, the greater the risk of developing cancer including cancers of the nasal, paranasal cavities, oral cavity, kidney, oesophagus, pancreas, and heavy smoking can as well lead to breast cancer.
My Chinese friend once told me that he was always embarrassed to laugh in the public, because of his tooth decay, coupled with cough as a result of congested chest due to excessive smoking. Smoking interferes with the mouth’s chemistry, creating excess plaque and yellowing teeth. There are proofs that smoking contributes to tooth decay and more likely lose their teeth.
The carbon monoxide which is the main poisonous gas in a car exhaust fume and cigarette smoke bind to blood much more readily than oxygen, cutting the oxygen-carrying power of heavy smokers’ blood as much as 15 percent. Following this, the smokers’ bones lose density, fracture more easily and take up to 80 percent longer to heal. They are more prone to back problems.
Heart disease is also very common and its one out of the three deaths in the world due to cardiovascular diseases. Smoking is one of the biggest risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease.
These diseases kill more than a million people a year in developed countries. Smoking-related cardiovascular diseases kill more 600,000 each year. Smoking makes the heart beat faster, raises blood pressure and even increase the risk of hypertension and clogged arteries and eventually cause heart attacks and strokes.
Smoking reduces resistance to bacteria that causes stomach ulcers. It also impairs the stomach’s ability to neutralize acid after meal, leaving the acid to eat away the stomach lining. Smokers’ ulcer is harder to treat. The tar in cigarette smoke collects on the fingers and fingernails, staining them yellowish-brown.
Besides increasing the risk of cancer of the uterine cervix, smoking can lead to fertility problems for women and complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of low weight babies and future ill health consequences.
Miscarriage is 2 to 3 times more common in smokers, as are stillbirths due to fetal oxygen deprivation and placental abnormalities induced by carbon monoxide and nicotine in cigarette smoke. In addition, smoking can lower estrogen levels causing premature menopause.
Smoking can deform sperm and damage its DNA, which could cause miscarriage or birth defects. Some studies have found that men who smoke have an increased risk of fathering a child who contracts cancer. Smoking also diminishes sperm count and reduces the blood flow to the male organ, which can cause impotence. Infertility is more common among smokers.
Buerger’s disease, also known as thronmboangitis obiterans, is an inflammation of arteries, vein, and nerves in the legs, principally, leading to restricted blood flow. Left untreated, buerger disease can lead to gangrene (death of body tissue) and amputation of the affected areas.
It may sound strange and funny for a non smoker to advise a smoker to stop smoking. But the benefits create opportunity to enjoy better health, save your life and that of others people, reduces the economic burden on the family and the society.
Osu wrote from Jos, Plateau state.
