Smoking causes serious illnesses and deaths. Unfortunately, the long period between starting to smoke and seeing its harmful effects causes the harms of smoking to be underestimated.
Smoking is the biggest epidemic of today and one of the most important public health problems, and approximately 6 million people die annually due to smoking. .Smoking is responsible for 27% of all cancer deaths, 35% of all respiratory system deaths and 13% of all cardiovascular system deaths. The prevalence of smoking in adults in Turkey is 27.1%, and the prevalence of smoking is higher in men than in women.
Half of smokers lose an average of 10 years of life, get sick more during their lifetime than non-smokers, are deprived of daily activities more, spend more on health care by using health services more, and are more likely to be absent from school and work. In the same age group, feeling of health is worse in smokers than in non-smokers. Smoking increases the risk of death due to all diseases. Nicotine is the most important substance found in cigarettes due to its strong addictive effect. The carcinogenic effect of nicotine. It can also occur with nicotine taken into the body independently of cigarette smoking, such as nicotine replacement therapy or electronic cigarettes. Nicotine also reduces the response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment. After cancer diagnosis, regardless of the form in which nicotine is taken into the body, life expectancy decreases compared to patients who do not consume nicotine. Apart from nicotine, substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrosamines, aromatic amines, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and benzene are other harmful carcinogens found in cigarettes.
Smoking causes many diseases, especially cancer. Smoking is responsible for 85% of lung cancers. The risk of lung cancer is 3 times higher in 20 pack-year smokers; 7 times in those who smoke 20-40 packs/year; 11 times higher in smokers with 40-60 packs of cigarettes per year; It increases 12-fold in those who smoke 60 pack-years. In passive smoking, the risk of lung cancer increases threefold. Apart from lung cancer, smoking causes cancer in the mouth, larynx, esophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, kidney, It increases the risk of bladder and urinary tract, cervical, bowel and blood cancer.
Smoking also increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. If diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol are accompanied by smoking, the risk of cardiovascular disease increases even more. The risk of sudden death due to cardiovascular disease is 3 times higher in smokers than in non-smokers. Even if you smoke less than five cigarettes a day, the risk of cardiovascular disease increases. Quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and dying from it. Although the risk of developing cardiovascular disease decreases by quitting smoking, it is higher than in people who have never smoked. The risk of cardiovascular disease also increases in passive smoking. While smoking increases the risk of lower extremity peripheral vascular disease the most among vascular diseases, it also creates a risk for aneurysm and stroke. The risk of death due to stroke increases with the amount of cigarettes consumed. There is also a significant relationship between passive smoking and stroke risk. Nicotine, carbon monoxide and oxidizing chemicals contained in cigarettes are the substances responsible for cardiovascular disease. Nicotine increases heart rate, heart contraction force, causes temporary blood pressure increases and narrowing of cardiovascular vessels. Carbon monoxide also reduces the oxygen intake of the heart and other organs, increases the risk of heart attack and peripheral vascular disease, and causes a tendency to rhythm irregularities in the presence of heart disease.
Smoking also causes pathological changes in the lower respiratory tract. Respiratory-related complaints such as chronic cough, sputum, wheezing and shortness of breath are common complaints in smokers. Deaths from COPD, pneumonia, and flu are significantly increased in smokers compared to non-smokers. Smoking is responsible for all types of COPD. COPD can be seen in women who smoke at a younger age and with less smoking compared to men. Some pathological events initiated by smoking continue even if smoking is stopped. The important thing is to quit smoking before COPD begins. Although pathological events decrease somewhat and respiratory function tests improve in advanced COPD patients, it is not possible for the disease to completely regress and return to normal. Passive smoking is not possible. In the marrow, the risk of COPD increases by 1.44 times in adults and 1.72 times in children and adolescents.
In asthma patients, smoking causes a decline in lung functions, deterioration in quality of life, an increase in emergency visits, an increase in the severity of the disease and a decrease in the response to treatment.
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Smoking also increases the risk of tuberculosis and death from tuberculosis.
It is known that smoking has negative effects on reproductive health in the short term and long term. A mother who smokes is associated with the onset of pregnancy and maintaining the pregnancy. faces related risks. An expectant mother who cannot conceive should be advised to quit smoking. The most important congenital defects related to smoking are clefts in the mouth and face. Rates of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and intellectual disability were also found to be high in children born to smoking mothers. Smoking during pregnancy negatively affects child lung development and increases the risk of diseases such as asthma. Regarding male reproductive health, smoking causes impotence, decrease in semen quality and negative effects on reproductive hormones. It disrupts sperm maturation. For these reasons, if the smoking couple reduces and quits smoking, it will increase the chance of pregnancy. Apart from all these diseases, the risk of blindness due to old age, the risk of tooth decay and gum diseases, diabetes increases with smoking, and the immune system weakens.
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