Most people associate cigarette smoking with breathing problems and lung cancer. But smoking harms nearly every organ in the body, including the heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes, mouth, reproductive organs, bones, bladder, and digestive organs.
Smoking is the main preventable cause of death and illness in developed countries. In Singapore, tobacco kills approximately 2,500 smokers and 250 non-smokers each year (based on the World No Tobacco Day information paper). There is a high percentage of smokers among Singapore residents aged between 18 to 69.
No level of tobacco use is found to be safe.
The nicotine from chewing tobacco or any amount of smoking, even light smoking or occasional smoking, can damage your heart and blood vessels, temporarily raise blood pressure and lower your exercise tolerance.
This damage increases your heart attack risks.
For instance it will increase the chance to get Atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up in the arteries. Over time, plaque hardens and narrows your arteries. Smoking also decreases the amount of oxygen that the blood can carry and increases the tendency for blood to clot. Blood clots can form in arteries causing a range of heart diseases that could ultimately result in a stroke or sudden death.
The more you smoke, the more you are at risk.
A person’s chance of heart disease increases with the number of cigarettes they smoke and how long they have smoked. If you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, you are twice as likely to have a heart attack as someone who doesn’t smoke.
For women who take birth control pills and people who have diabetes, smoking poses an even greater risk to the heart and blood vessels. Chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes, and the smoke from cigars and pipes contains the same harmful chemicals as the smoke from cigarettes and can result in heart disease.
The impact of tobacco smoke is not confined solely to smokers.
When you smoke, the people around you, especially children, are also at risk for having health problems.
Secondhand smoke is the smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette, e-cigarette, cigar, or pipe or the smoke that’s breathed out by a person who is smoking. Secondhand smoke contains many of the same harmful chemicals that people inhale when they smoke.
Secondhand smoke can damage the hearts and blood vessels, and can increase the risk of heart attack and death, in people who don’t smoke in the same way that active smoking harms people who do smoke.
About 250 nonsmokers die in Singapore from heart disease each year as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke.
The fastest you quit the better.
The good news is that quitting smoking and avoiding secondhand smoke can help reverse heart and blood vessel damage and reduce heart disease risk.
The impact of quitting is almost immediate:
Within 20 minutes of quitting smoking, blood pressure and pulse return to normal, and circulation improves.
Within eight hours, blood oxygen levels increase and the chances of a heart attack start to fall.
Within 24 hours, carbon monoxide is eliminated from the body and the lungs start to clear out mucus and debris.
Within 72 hours, the lungs can hold more air and breathing becomes easier.
Within five years, the risk of a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.
Within 10 years, the risk of lung cancer falls to around half that of a smoker.
Within 15 years, the risk of heart disease becomes nearly the same as someone who has never smoked.
Quitting when older is still worthwhile: among smokers who quit at age 66 years, men gained up to two years of life, and women gained up to 3.7 years.
A variety of strategies, programs, and medicines are available to help you quit smoking. Above all, you must also want to quit smoking for yourself, and not try to quit to please your friends or family.
First, pick a date to stop smoking and then stick to it.
Write down your reasons for quitting. Read over the list every day, before and after you quit.
Write down when you smoke, why you smoke, and what you are doing when you smoke. You’ll learn what causes you to smoke.
Stop smoking in certain situations (such as during your work break or after dinner) before actually quitting.
Make a list of activities you can do instead of smoking — and do them when the urge hits.
Ask your doctor about nicotine gum or patches, or drugs that can help you quit.
Join a stop-smoking support group or program.
If you relapse, don’t lose hope.
Seventy-five percent of those who quit smoke again. Most folks quit three times before they succeed. Plan ahead and think about what you’ll do the next time you get the urge to smoke.
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