“Smoking is injurious to health” – Myths, facts and risks

Myths

• Roll-your-own cigarettes are more natural than factory made ones (both are equally harmful)
• Air pollution is the cause of lung cancer and not cigarettes
• If you quit smoking, you will gain weight (with a good diet and exercise plan, you won’t)
• Smoking a couple of cigarettes a day isn’t harmful
• Cigarettes help people de-stress (it is the harmful substances in cigarettes that relaxes a smoker)
• Expensive cigarettes are not as harmful as cheaper ones or beedies
• Cigarettes are safer than chewing tobacco
• It is safe to smoke menthol, or low-tar cigarettes (smokers who use these tend to smoke more cigarettes)

Facts

• A cigarette contains 4800 chemicals, 69 of which are cancer triggers
• One person dies every six seconds due to tobacco
• India has 12 crores of tobacco users (includes smokers and tobacco chewers)
• Every 9th Indian uses tobacco
• One third of those who die due to tobacco are children who have been exposed to passive smoke
• Medical costs of treating tobacco related diseases are about 90 crores a year

Risks

Smoking can increase the risk of-

– heart disease by 2 to 4 times
– Occurrence of a stroke by 2 to 4 times
– lung cancer in men by 25 times
– lung cancer in women by 25.7 times
– Smoking can damage blood vessels causing them to thicken and grow narrower
– Blockages can also reduce blood flow to legs and skin causing clots and numbness
– In asthmatics, smoking can trigger an attack or make an attack worse
– Smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die from COPD than non-smokers
– It is more difficult for smokers to get pregnant
– Smoking during pregnancy (even passive smoke) could endanger the foetus
– Smoking can increase your risk for cataracts
– Smoking is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis

On World Tobacco day – 31st May 2017… make a pledge to quit smoking or help someone quit!

 

Kauvery Hospital is globally known for its multidisciplinary services at all its Centers of Excellence, and for its comprehensive, Avant-Grade technology, especially in diagnostics and remedial care in heart diseases, transplantation, vascular and neurosciences medicine. Located in the heart of Trichy (Tennur, Royal Road and Alexandria Road (Cantonment), Chennai, Hosur, Salem, Tirunelveli and Bengaluru, the hospital also renders adult and pediatric trauma care.

Chennai – 044 4000 6000 • Trichy – Cantonment – 0431 4077777 • Trichy – Heartcity – 0431 4003500 • Trichy – Tennur – 0431 4022555 • Hosur – 04344 272727 • Salem – 0427 2677777 • Tirunelveli – 0462 4006000 • Bengaluru – 080 6801 6801