Health
Millions of cigarettes smokers who ignore warning are made to pay dearly via diseases and early death
By Benprince Ezeh
SMOKING has become a way of life for many Nigerian youths despite the World Health Organisation, WHO, warning that tobacco kills up to half of its users and statistics from the Nigerian Tobacco Atlas, NTA in 2015, revealed that every year, more than 16,100 Nigerians are killed by tobacco related diseases. Significantly more than 25, 000 children ‘10-14 years old’ and 3,527,000 adults ‘15+ years old’ continue to use tobacco each day
In 2017, the WHO, the Federal Ministry of Health, FMH and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, revealed that over seven million Nigerians die yearly from tobacco smoking, while more than 6 million of those deaths results from direct tobacco use. They warned that the death toll would rise to about eight million by 2020, if necessary measures are not taken to check it.
According to statistics, 82 percent of people who visit bars in Nigeria are exposed to second hand tobacco smoke, while middle income and developing countries bear 80 percent brunt of the hazards. It is known that tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals of which at least, 250 are known to be harmful.
More than 50 are known to cause cancer and other diseases like diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis, stroke and cardiovascular diseases.
According to experts, cigarette smoking causes damage to nearly every organ of the body and it is directly responsible for a number of diseases. Smoking has been found to cause more deaths each year than the combined alcohol use, firearm related incidents, HIV, illegal drug use and motor vehicle incidents.
Investigations also show that smoking shortens the life of a male by about 12 years and the life of a female by around 11 years. Specifically, carbon monoxide and tar are two poisons in tobacco that affect peoples’ health.
Carbon monoxide is found in car exhaust fumes and is fatal in large doses. It replaces oxygen in the blood and starves organs of oxygen and stops them being able to function properly. Tar is a sticky, brown substance that coats the lungs and affects breathing.
Smoking affects many different areas of the body; it increases the likelihood of having a stroke by two to four times which can cause brain damage and death. It can also make bones weak and brittle, which is particularly dangerous for women, who are more prone to osteoporosis and broken bones. All chemicals in tobacco smoke increase the chance of heart problems and cardiovascular diseases.
Obinna Chukwu, a trader, said that he started smoking at a youthful age because of his elder brother usually sent him to get it for him. “He was not around on that faithful day, I bought one from the usual mallam that I always went to whenever he sent me. It nearly choked me, but with time it became part of me.
“These days I only smoke when am drinking in a bar and it has never affected me health wise,” he said.
But Kingsley, a public servant, said he stopped smoking when he was diagnosed with heart pains. “The doctor said I should stop smoking and also minimise the rate at which I consume alcohol or face the risk of having a liver cancer due to my excess smoke,” Kingsley said.
Felicita Ogbu, a doctor, said that though it is boldly written by the producers that the consumers are liable to die young, not many people have been yielding to the warning. “Smoking is one of the deadliest killing diseases on the planet; it leads to lungs, liver and kidney cancer which mostly are irreversible.
“Inhaling it alone in a public place is as dangerous as taking it, which is why I urge youths to decrease from smoking so to have a normal and healthy life. As for medical practitioners that smoke, funny thing is that they know how fast it kills but up till date, I still wonder why they persist on taking it,” Ogbu said.
BE
– Jan. 30, 2019 @ 18:15 GMT |
Tags: Why smokers die young
