Smoking Illnesses

There is no doubt that smoking causes other illnesses that ranges from the minor sickness to the most fatal illnesses such as lung cancer and cardiac arrest. But despite of this, smokers worldwide continue to grow worldwide and tobacco manufactures continue to get rich. Smoking related illnesses would non stop smokers from snorting in the deadly substance in cigarettes and tobacco manufacturers will not stop from producing these deadly substances. Are the following smoke related illnesses not fatal enough to make a smoker stop the habit?

The most predominant smoke related illness is heart disease. The harmful substances inhaled by smokers harden the arteries which speed up the blood clotting. Once the arteries ar clotted cardiovascular diseases called thrombosis which can either be coronary or cerebral. Coronary thrombosis leads to heart attack due to the clogging of the veins supplying blood to the heart. Cerebral thrombosis is caused by the clogging of the veins connected to the brain which can cause collapse, stroke or paralysis.

The second most predominant smoke related illness is cancer which does non only affect the lungs but the throat and mouth as well. Lung cancer is the deadliest smoke related illness of all and will most likely affect smokers than non-smokers. Statistics show that 90% of smokers develop lung cancer and 1 out of ten moderate smokers and 1 out of five heavy smokers will die of lung cancer. A scary thought so which should be enough to discourage smokers from continuing the habit. But apparently non enough. Aside from lung cancer, other smoke related illness causing cancer can also be developed due to smoking. This includes cancer of the bladder, cancer of the kidneys and cancer of the pancreas.

Another smoke related illnesses which is getting rearing among smokers is the continuing pulmonic diseases which is due the blocking of airflow and causes trouble in breathing. Two of the most common chronic pulmonic disease is emphysema and continuing bronchitis. Emphysema is a deadly smoking related illnesses which is due to the damage brought about by smoke to the air sacs. While bronchitis is a smoke related illnesses which is characterized by continuous coughing with mucus for several months. One thing to note about chronic pulmonary diseases is that they occur during the later ages of a smoker’s life.

Other smoking related diseases are non as rampant as cancer, heart or pneumonic disease but they are nonetheless fatal and enough reason to quit smoking. These smoke related illnesses are high blood pressure, fertility problems, asthma, and eye damages such as cataracts and lost of eyesight, dental problems, ulcers, and over all physical appearance.

Lastly, smokers are non the only people susceptible to smoke related illnesses. Second hand smoke or those people who ar open to the smoke breathe out by smokers are can also develop smoking related illnesses which can be as fatal with that of the actual smokers. Babies and young children with smoke parents are the most affected by second hand smoke.

Crisis in India: Smoking Expected to Kill 1 Million People Annually by 2010

Smoking kills 900,000 people every year in India, and unless corrective action is taken soon that number will increase to 1 million smoking-related deaths annually by 2010 and beyond, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and conducted by scientists from India, Canada and the UK. For the study, 900 field workers gathered information from a sample of 1.1 million homes in all parts of India.
Highlights of the study include:
Smoking may soon account for 20 percent of all male deaths and 5 percent of all female deaths among Indians between the ages of 30 and 69.
About 61 percent of men who smoke can expect to die between the ages of 30 and 69, compared with only 41 percent of non-smoking men who are similar in other ways.
About 62 percent of women who smoke can expect to die between the ages of 30 and 69, compared to only 38 percent of non-smoking women.
On average, men who smoke bidi—the popular hand-rolled cigarettes that contain about one-quarter as much tobacco as a full-sized cigarette—shorten their lives by about six years. Men who smoke full-sized cigarettes lose about 10 years of life.
Bidi-smoking women shorten their lives by about eight years on average.
Smoking 1-7 bidis a day, for example, raised mortality risks by 25 percent while smoking an equal number of cigarettes daily doubled the risk of death to 50 percent.
The study did not examine the mortality risks of secondhand smoke, which the U.S. Surgeon General has declared a significant health hazard for non-smokers, especially children.
"It is truly remarkable that one single factor, namely smoking, which is entirely preventable, accounts for nearly one in 10 of all deaths in India,” said Harvard University Professor Amartya Sen. "The study brings out forcefully the need for immediate public action in this much-neglected field."
Half of Smoking Deaths Occur Among Illiterate Indians
There are approximately 120 million smokers in India, about 37 percent of all men and 5 percent of all women between the ages of 30 and 69. The government is taking several steps to control tobacco use, including making special efforts to inform people who are poor or illiterate about the dangers of smoking. According to the study, more than 50 percent of the tobacco-related deaths in India occur among illiterate men or women, and 80 percent of those people reside in rural India.
Indian health authorities have urged the government to do more, but some politicians oppose further action because they want to protect the jobs of tobacco workers.
Smoking Deaths On the Rise in Developing Nations Worldwide
The projected increase in smoking-related deaths in India is part of a global trend, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which estimates that smoking-related deaths worldwide will surpass 9 million annually by 2020—with 7 million of those deaths occurring in developing nations.
Twenty-five years ago, nearly 70 percent of the lung cancer deaths worldwide occurred in high-income nations. Today, 50 percent of lung cancer deaths occur in low-income nations, and by 2030 that number is expected to increase to 70 percent.
Tobacco Companies Targeting Developing Nations
One reason for the change is that consumer education, regulation and societal pressure havelowered smoking rates in many developed countries, which has also brought down the number of smoking-related deaths in those nations. Another reason for the shift is that tobacco companies have mounted aggressive marketing campaigns in developing countries, where there are few restrictions on how they sell or advertise their products, to help compensate for decreased smoking rates and lower profits in developed nations.
Currently, 1.3 billion people worldwide smoke or use other tobacco products, and nearly 5 million die as a result. Eighty-four percent of the world’s tobacco users live in countries with developing or transitional economies.
WHO Takes Aim at Cancer and Tobacco Use
WHO has started a global effort to reduce cancer deaths worldwide—aiming to prevent 8 million cancer deaths by 2015—and a primary focus of that initiative is to lower tobacco use in developing countries.
"Even if smoking rates stayed the same worldwide, we would see a huge increase in cancer incidence in the next decades just because of the growth and aging of the population," said Peter Boyle, Ph.D, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, a WHO research organization. "Whereas there were 100 million deaths in the 20th century caused by tobacco, if current trends continue, there will be 1 billion in the 21st century. Tobacco is the biggest enemy we face.