Smoking and Its Effect on the Body
Ever since I was young, I was warned about the risks of smoking and how hard it was to quit by my dad. My father, then a student at Hill, started smoking when he was in high school. He would always tell me of how much he regrets starting smoking then. He explained to me that the media that portrays smoking as a luxury that enhances our lives was just a facade. In countless movies, smoking is seen to be as attractive or elegant. We see James Bond take out his cigarette and light it. We see Brad Pitt light a cigarette too in his movie, “Fight Club”. What we don’t see are the true risks of smoking. My dad was also tempted into smoking because of these pop culture influences, thinking that he would quit after just one puff. But he could not quit; in fact, he still smokes till this day.
Until this day, he tells me about how much he regrets starting smoking in the first place, emphasizing to never smoke to me. When I play basketball with him, he has trouble breathing because of what smoking has done to his lungs. Starting smoking is one of the biggest regrets he holds until this day.
Cigarettes are a dangerous problem to the world and millions of people around the world are addicted to smoking. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 17.8% of Americans smoke cigarettes. Smoking is linked to many terrible, life threatening diseases. It’s not just cancer. The CDC also states that smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. “Smoking causes more deaths each year than the following causes combined: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, firearm-related incidents”.
The Science Behind Smoking
Cigarettes are so dangerously addictive because of the nicotine within it. Smoking nicotine releases chemical dopamine into our brains. Dopamine makes the body feel pleasure and “teaches” the brain to repeat the behavior of smoking a cigarette, leading to addiction.
The real problem with cigarettes is how they negatively impact the various different systems within our body. Smoking especially impacts the cardiovascular system in negative ways. When you smoke, you inhale carbon monoxide, a very harmful gas . Carbon monoxide decreases the amount of oxygen that can be carried within your red blood cells and increases the amount of cholesterol that is deposited within your arteries, increasing risk of heart disease . Inhaling carbon monoxide reduces the oxygen capacity of blood because carbon monoxide has a larger affinity towards hemoglobin than oxygen does .
Hemoglobin usually takes on the role of circulating oxygen, but when carbon monoxide is inhaled, hemoglobin bonds with the carbon monoxide molecules and forms carboxyhemoglobin. This means that there will be less oxygen circulation, resulting in lack of oxygen supplement.
Smoking can also impact the respiratory system negatively, leading to serious diseases such as COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD is a lung condition that is caused by smoking . Air travels down your windpipe and into your lungs through two large tubes, your bronchi . Inside your lungs these tubes divide countless times into many smaller tubes, bronchioles . Your lungs rely on the natural elasticity of the bronchial tubes and air sacs to force air out of your body. COPD causes them to lose their elasticity and over-expand, which leaves some air trapped in your lungs when you exhale. Having COPD makes you more likely to experience episodes called exacerbations, during which their symptoms such as shortness of breath and chest tightness become worse than the usual day-to-day variation and persist for at least several days.
Cigarettes are such a big risk because of the problems they bring with them and how addicting they are.
Why Does This Matter?
Now that we understand the risks of smoking, it’s time to address the implications that this health issue will have on underage students.
Let us start off with this question: Why do you live? What is the motivation that pushes you through life?
We all face challenges and conflict in our everyday lives, but all of us have our reasons to persevere. A father of a family might need to live in order to watch his children grow up and provide the best environment for them to do so. A prisoner who has an undeserved sentence might want to prove his innocence. All of us have our unique reasons to live life everyday. As a student, I think that I want to live because I believe that I can accomplish so much more in life that I have not done yet. The experiences, the people, the fame. I have achieved much too little to die yet; so, I want to live.
However, smoking is what brings you closer to dying. We need to understand the risks that smoking brings with it. Smoking is what kills you both figuratively and literally. Your quality of life after smoking will be severely downgraded because of both mental and physical issues that are created from smoking, with your daily life “dying” figuratively. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that smoking accounts for “nearly 1 in 5 deaths” every year in the US, dying literally. Smoking inhibits us from pursuing the dreams that we possess, and it is crucial to understand this fact and take action.
While some may see smoking as a proof of being “cool”, it is important to shut down these views and face the facts. Smoking may make you seem or feel “cool” but your body will break down because of it. Research shows that cigarette smoking increases risk of death in both men and women. We can not treat cigarettes as a treat that helps us relax after a hard working day. We must view them as a danger that we should not approach.
Quitting Smoking
So, this is why we should not smoke. However, if you already smoke, there are several strategies to help quitting smoking. Smoking is known to be notoriously hard to quit as nicotine withdrawal symptoms are quite severe. Nicotine affects all areas of your body, from your heart to your brain. When you stop inputting nicotine into your body (by stopping smoking), you’ll start physically craving nicotine. Nicotine withdrawal comes with physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. When the nicotine has finally cleared out of your body, you’ll start getting headaches, cravings, and insomnia. After this, the physical symptoms will start to get better, but you’ll start dealing with mental and emotional challenges such as anxiety, depression and irritability. This is why it is crucial to quit smoking in the right ways. It is important to use strategies such as nicotine replacement therapy in order to quit smoking in the right way. Using a professional’s help in selecting amounts of prescription nicotine that come in the form of nasal spray or patches is proven to be extremely effective in helping the body adjust to its lack of nicotine.
Combining this long-acting nicotine therapies with short-acting therapies such as nicotine gum and lozenges has proven to be extremely helpful to the body’s adjusting period. Researchers at Bapuji Dental College and Hospital has proven these treatments effectiveness, with results showing that subjects that were guided through quitting smoking using withdrawal strategies showed much better adjustments after quitting than those who did not use these strategies.
Smoking is an extremely problematic activity and it is crucial to fully understand the problem and ways to counter it.