Words: Devika V Menon   Images: Various Sources

Throughout my life, “Smoking is injurious to health” is something i’ve heard at least a billion times, no exaggeration! Yet, I’ve seen people across the globe smoke one, and as they exhale their first drag, i’ve also seen how the stress leaves their face! I’ve always wondered, is smoking that bad? But then the movies always have ‘Mukesh’, who’s suffering from lung cancer due to excessive smoking, and that kinda puts me off!

It’s ‘World No Tobacco Day’, today. If you need reasons to stub that smoke right now, here are a few:

• The nicotine found in cigarettes and in smokeless tobacco is a powerful, addictive drug that acts on several parts of the body. Once addicted, it becomes difficult, but not impossible, to quit using smokeless tobacco or to stop smoking.
• It takes eight seconds for nicotine to reach the brain where it affects chemicals called dopamine and noradrenalin, changing your mood and temporarily reducing feelings of stress. Studies have shown that the younger you start smoking, the harder it is to quit.
• At least 19 different types of cancer-causing substances, called nitrosamines, are found in tobacco products.

• Oral cancer is serious. When it spreads to the lymph nodes in the neck, it is often deadly.
• The risk of developing lung cancer is 10 times greater for smokers than for non- smokers. Also, breathing secondhand smoke (someone else’s smoke) can be as dangerous as smoking.
• Smoking causes more deaths than road accidents, and every cigarette you smoke reduces your life expectancy by 11 minutes and tobacco is the world’s biggest avoidable cause of death.

• Lots of people smoke because it helps them relax but studies show that the habit has the reverse effect. As nicotine wears off, smokers become more stressed and anxious than they were before the last cigarette and begin to crave another. It’s a vicious cycle.
• Once you stop using tobacco products, your blood pressure, pulse rate and skin temperature will return to normal within 20 minutes. Within eight hours, high levels of carbon monoxide in your blood will return to normal and, within a few weeks, your circulation will improve, your sense of taste and smell will improve, and you will have fewer colds and more energy. It is never too late to stop!

• Whether you’ve smoked for four years or 40, it’s not too late to quit and, by doing so, you’ll dramatically increase your odds of a healthy life. Here’s what happens when you stop smoking:

– 24 hours after quitting: Carbon monoxide and nicotine have left your system.

– A month after quitting: You’ll notice a visible difference in your skin.

– A year after quitting: Your risk of heart attack is now half that of a smoker.

– Two years after quitting: Your risk of stroke is reduced to that of a non-smoker.

– 10 years after quitting: Your risk of lung cancer is now half that of a smoker.

– 15 years after quitting: Your risk of heart attack is now the same as someone who has never smoked.

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