Smoking and Non Communicable Diseases
ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND EFFECT ON STROKE
Alcohol consumption can increase the risk of having stroke. A disease associated with disruption in the flow of blood to brain tissue. It result to loss of motor (movement) and sensory (touch, temperature sensations) functions. A stroke can also damage other systems in the body including the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, digestive and urinary systems.
Ischemic stroke
This is when an artery supplying blood to the brain tissue is blocked. This blockage can result from a clot that has formed in the artery or from a foreign body (such as a fat globule) that has broken off that becomes lodged in the artery, blocking it.
Alcohol increases the risk of ischemic stroke because it can:
Cause a clot, formed due to irregular heartbeat and weakened heart muscle, lodging in a blood vessel in the brain.
Cause high blood pressure which can result in a foreign body such as plaque to break off, enter the blood stream and lodge in a blood vessel in the brain.
Raise the levels of fat (bad cholesterol) in the blood and if a clot forms in a clogged artery a stroke can result.
Hemorrhagic stroke
This results from an artery supplying brain tissue, tearing and bleeding. Alcohol increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke because it can cause high blood pressure. High blood pressure can create weak points on artery walls, including those in the brain, increasing the chance of them bleeding due to the force of high pressure.
THERE IS NO SAFE WAY TO SMOKE. QUIT NOW
Smoking can cause cancer and then block your body from fighting it. This is because poisons in cigarette smoke can weaken the body’s immune system, making it harder to kill cancer cells. When this happens, cancer cells keep growing without being stopped. Poisons in tobacco smoke can damage or change a cell’s DNA.
Smokers have a greater risk for lung cancer today than they did in 1964, even though they smoke fewer cigarettes. One reason may be changes in how cigarettes are made and what chemicals they contain. Lung cancer still kills more men and women than any other type of cancer.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women, and is one of the hardest cancers to treat. Quitting smoking lowers the risks for cancers of the lung, mouth, throat, esophagus, and larynx while continued use in those diagnosed with cancer may lead to developing a second (new) tobacco-related cancer.
HOW TOBACCO PRODUCTS CAUSE CANCER
Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 compounds and at least 70 chemicals that cause cancer. These chemicals are referred to as Carcinogens. Every time you breathe in that smoke, those chemicals get into your bloodstream, which in turn carries them to all parts of your body.
Many of these chemicals can damage your DNA. DNA is the cell’s “instruction manual” that controls a cell’s normal growth and function. When DNA is damaged, a cell can begin growing out of control and create a cancer tumor.
The most important things you can do to avoid health risks from cancer are —
1. If you don’t smoke or use tobacco — DON’T START!
2. If you do smoke or use tobacco — QUIT!
CANCERS CAUSED BY TOBACCO USE
It is an established fact that smoking tobacco products causes almost 9 of every 10 cases of lung cancer. However, smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body, including in the — Bladder, Blood (acute myeloid leukemia), Cervix, Colon and rectum, Kidney, Liver, Lungs, Stomach and Voice box (larynx). Smokeless tobacco products, such as dipping and chewing tobacco, can cause cancer too, including cancers of the Esophagus, Mouth and Throat, and Pancreas.
No matter how long you have smoked, quitting can greatly reduce your risk for cancer and other chronic diseases.
EFFECT OF TOBACCO ON LUNG CANCERS AND COPD
Smoking is an unhealthy lifestyle which can result to grave consequences if unchecked – one of such is Lung Cancer. Lung cancer is a leading cause of death in most smokers – 70% in active smokers, and 30% in passive smokers (Sky news, 2018). Marijuana(weed), cigarette and cigars (tobacco), Wood snuffs contains nicotine and additional substances that are carcinogens – responsible for inducing cancer, thereby causing respiratory failures and lung diseases. The pathetic news is that: as at today, cancer therapy in Africa produces few survivors even with foreign intervention. That’s why it’s imperative to stop smoking in all manners – active or passive, as it’s true that smokers are liable to die young!
SMOKING LEADS TO COPD AND LUNG CANCER.
Marijuana and tobacco are the most commonly smoked substance worldwide with marijuana being the second smoke substance. The number of marijuana users is to a large extent, similar to those of tobacco smoke. The only exceptions between the two substances are the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in marijuana and nicotine in tobacco.
Given these similarities, there is a likelihood of the health risks of constant marijuana smoking is similar to those of regular tobacco smoking. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is associated with high morbidity and mortality, is among those risks.
The relation between smoking marijuana/tobacco and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be figured by assessing respiratory symptoms and measuring lung function in smokers and nonsmokers of marijuana or tobacco.
Smoke is harmful to the lung. Whether from burning wood, tobacco or marijuana. Smoke from marijuana and tobacco has been shown to contain many of the same toxins, irritants, and carcinogens.
SMOKELESS TOBACCO IS A MAJOR HEALTH RISK
No form of smokeless tobacco is a safe substitute for cigarettes. Still, tobacco companies often market these products as alternatives to smoking in places where smoking isn’t allowed.
Overall, people who dip or chew get about the same amount of nicotine as regular smokers. They also get at least 30 chemicals that are known to cause cancer. The most harmful cancer-causing substances in smokeless tobacco are tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). Cancers linked to the use of smokeless tobacco include: Mouth, tongue, cheek, Tooth and gum cancer, Cancer in the esophagus, pancreatic cancer. There is no safe way to use tobacco. *_Must all of us wear mask to protect ourselves from .