Smoking kills the heart
Cigarette smoking is one of the major public health hazards in the developed and developing countries. It has been estimated that a 25 years old male who smokes twenty cigarettes per day will shorten his life by 8-10 years compared to his non-smoking counterpart. Others evils such as cancer and lung diseases aside, smoking are one of the most important risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD). Epidemiological studies in USA showed that; overall age adjusted 6-year risk of CAD death was 2.3 time higher for cigarette smokers compared to non-smokers. As for the females, smoking and use of oral contraceptives carried a joint impact of a ten-fold increase in CAD compared to their counterparts.
The damage from smoking is ‘dose related’. Pipe and cigar smokers were said to have less propensity to heart disease while use of efficient filters were thought to reduce the risk of smoking. But the only certain way to protect your heart is to quit smoking! Remember, when you quit smoking, you spare the “passive” (involuntary smokers who work in the same office with the smokers, spouses of smoker etc.). Passive smokers are also prone to develop heart attack, lung cancer etc. The good news is that you could reverse many of the adverse effects of smoking by quitting now. Within 2 years of quitting smoking, the heart attack risk is reduced to half that in smokers. Within 10 years, the risk of heart disease is the same as that in non-smokers. Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risk to your death.
Kicking out the smoking habit does not come easy. Determination is the most important factor to success. Set an auspicious date to quit smoking and tell your close friends (particularly the smoking ones) and relatives about it to enlist social support. List the long-term health benefits of quitting smoking, and if this seems too remote think of the immediate rewards such as cleaner breath and improved stamina and money saving. Many people who succeeded in kicking smoking began to gain weight. They regained their appetite, and tended to snacks when they carved for cigarettes. So keep a stock of low- calorie snacks on hand when you watch TV or read. Others turn to regular exercises to over come the craving.
The are a variety of interventions to reduce smoking. On an average, about 5 percent of smokers will discontinue the habit for 1 year after receiving a physician’s advice, although the rate of quitting will be higher in more highly motivated cohorts. Nicotine gum or trans dermal patches may increase the 1 –year likelihood of smoking cessation by 30 to 100 percent. Nicotine withdrawal can be managed by tapering cigarette smoking, gradually changing to lower nicotine cigarettes and substituting chewing of nicotine gum. Nicotine gum is prescribed as needed, up to 30 doses per day. The average patient uses 10 doses per day and the frequency of dosing declines over a 1 to 3 month period.
The association between hart disease and smoking is well known to lay public. Myocardial infarction (heart attack) or by pass surgery is a sufficient impetus for 20 to 60 per cent of patients to stop smoking.
Group counseling can increase rate of quitting. Public programs also are effective, with television advertisements against smoking among the most cost effective.
Stop smoking right now.
