Smoking Tops the List
Unhealthy-Habits? Who? Me.... There are not too many of us who haven’t at some stage of our lives had some unhealthy or bad habits of some description.
Probably the most common and one that can severely impact on our health is, of course, smoking. I am not going to delve, at this stage, into other unhealthy-habits that should be avoided - perhaps that will come later.
Are you a smoker? Would you prefer not to be? If you have been trying to quit without success, or thinking "it's OK, it won't affect me", then, just perhaps, reading on, may help you.
Many people who start smoking think that they will be able to stop whenever they want - but, it’s not that easy - it is an unhealthy-habit and one that takes will-power to break.
Did you know ...
- One in two recreational users will become addicted.
- Smoking is more addictive than heroin, cocaine or alcohol.
- Up to 90% of smokers begin smoking before the age of 19.
- Young people are twice as likely to smoke if they have parents who smoke.
- Symptoms of addiction (having strong urges to smoke, feeling anxious or irritable, feeling depressed or trying unsuccessfully not to smoke) can appear within only days after becoming an ‘occasional’ smoker.
- Almost 50% of all urban litter is tobacco-related.
What is in cigarette smoke? Why should you be concerned?
Tobacco smoke is a complex mixture of more than 4000 chemicals in the form of gases, particles or both. When you inhale cigarette smoke, dozens of harmful substances enter your lungs and spread through your body. They can reach your brain, heart and other organs within 10 seconds of the first puff:
They include:
- Nicotine - an addictive drug and a toxin that narrows your veins and arteries. Nicotine raises your blood pressure and damages your heart by forcing it to pump faster and work harder. It slows your blood flow, reducing oxygen to your feet and hands. It also affects your appetite.
- Carbon Monoxide - a gas that robs your heart of the oxygen it needs as fuel to pump blood around your body. Over time, your airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
- Tar - clogs your lungs and contains many dangerous chemicals that can either cause cancer or act with other chemicals to stimulate cancer growth.
- Phenols - hazardous chemicals that paralyse and eventually kill the hair-like cells that normally sweep clean the sensitive lining of your airways.
- Fine Particles - can irritate your throat and lungs, cause ‘smoker’s cough’, make you produce more mucus and damage lung tissue.
