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Talk (Part 1): Smoking - a dangerous addiction
These days, most, if not all, people are aware of the dangers of smoking. Why then do so many smokers persist with a habit they know is slowly killing them? It is estimated that there are now 1.5 billion people around the world who smoke. It has recently been reported that some 4 out of 5 smokers wish to quit but are unable to do so. It seems that a minimum level of nicotine is required in the bloodstream of a smoker in order to prevent withdrawal symptoms occurring. This level, equivalent to inhaling the smoke from 10 cigarettes a day, is enough to prevent withdrawal in even the most addicted smoker. So another vital question remains - why do some people smoke more than is necessary to satisfy their addiction? In the US, each year, smoking accounts for approximately 350,000 preventable deaths - almost 8 times the total number of US soldiers killed throughout the entire Vietnam War. In that country, smoking kills 7 times the number of people who die in car accidents. Yet even these horrifying statistics are not enough to make the majority of smokers quit. Even though tobacco smoke has been recognised for 4 decades as a dangerous carcinogen, causing cancer in the lung and damaging vital tissues and organs of the body, smoking remains the most serious form of drug addiction worldwide. A recent survey claimed that 87.5% of smokers reported smoking to be a pleasurable activity, and it may be that nicotine stimulates the pleasure centres of the brain. It takes only 7 seconds of puffing for one quarter of the nicotine inhaled to reach the brain and have the desired effect. Since the instant pleasure afforded by smoking is clearly too great a temptation for most people to resist, the lesson seems clear - don't start smoking.
Talk (Part 2): Smoking - the risks to health
The risks of smoking are so well-accepted that insurance companies make smokers pay more life insurance than non-smokers. The risks are directly in proportion to the number of cigarettes smoked and the amount of tar they contain. Smoking causes 3 major health problems: heart disease, stroke and cancer. The way in which smoking contributes to heart disease and stroke is closely linked - what happens is the gases in tobacco smoke cause the blood to thicken. The blood cells tend to stick together and can form a clot. If the clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain, the result is a stroke, which usually paralyses the body. If the clot blocks an artery in the heart, the result is a heart attack. The risk of cancer is greater for all smokers. In non-smokers and smokers alike, the immune system works tirelessly to kill cells which have become potentially cancerous. These pre-cancerous cells can easily become cancerous with further attacks from toxic substances. Since constant smoking seriously affects the ability of the immune system to do its job, cancer, especially of the lung, is inevitable in all smokers given enough time. But perhaps the most feared risks are those to the unborn. Women who smoke are subjecting their unborn children to a greater risk of premature birth and birth defects. Also, the body weight of these children is likely to be a good deal less than normal. In addition, they may grow up to be shorter than other children. Even a child's behavioural problems may be linked to the smoking habit of the mother. If you are in doubt about the dangers of smoking, visit your local hospital. Almost half the number of patients will have diseases directly attributable to smoking.
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