Let's smoke?
6 facts about smoking
Indira Valeeva, Copper News
Fact #1
About the benefits of smokingIn the XVI century, it was believed that tobacco had many medicinal properties.
In 1571, the Spanish doctor Nicolas Monardes published a work that tobacco can cure 36 different diseases. Tobacco was used to treat migraines, toothache, bone aches and stomach disorders. Over time, many myths about the benefits of tobacco were debunked, but during the First World War it was recommended to smoke soldiers to calm down.
Oddly enough, today some scientists claim that smoking has not only disadvantages, but also some advantages:
- Smoking helps to lose weight. In addition, people who quit smoking gain 3-4 kg on average. In the early 1920s, tobacco companies advertised cigarettes with the expectation of losing weight to women, since it is known that nicotine suppresses appetite and accelerates metabolism. But there is a downside to this quality of cigarettes: smokers do not feel the whole flavor range of food, they also have digestive problems.
- Prolonged smoking reduces the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. In a study published in the journal Neurology in 2010, it was shown that the risk of developing Parkinson's disease in smokers is reduced by 44%, and in former smokers – by 22%. The longer a person smokes, the lower the risks. Why this happens, scientists have not been able to figure out.
- Smoking increases the effectiveness of the drug clopidogrel, which is used to prevent the formation of blood clots in patients with myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, etc. This is due to the fact that smoking releases a certain substance (cytochrome P450 1A2), which promotes the activation of clopidogrel in the body.
Fact #2
About the consequences of passive smokingThe claim that passive smoking is even more dangerous than active smoking has no evidence.
But the various medical associations are unanimous: A "passive smoker" is subject to the same diseases as a smoking person (cancer, cardiovascular diseases, infertility, etc.). There are more than 7 thousand chemical compounds in the smoke exhaled by the smoker and produced by the smoldering end of the cigarette. Hundreds of them are toxic, and about 70 provoke oncological diseases. There is no safe dose of such smoke. In addition, it can stay in the air for up to 2.5 hours even with the window open. And it is not necessary to smell it at the same time.
The active fight against passive smoking began in the 1990s. In 1992, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the results of a study according to which in the early 1980s from 35 to 40 thousand deaths per year were caused by secondhand smoke.
Fact #3
About "safe smoking"Many smokers try to protect themselves from its harm in various ways: by limiting the number of cigarettes smoked or by choosing "light" cigarettes.
According to surveys, almost a third of smokers use less than 10 cigarettes a day and believe that it is not dangerous, so they do not see the point of quitting. Nevertheless, the risk of most cardiovascular diseases occurs with the first few cigarettes smoked in a day.
As for "light" cigarettes, many doctors consider them at least as harmful. In order to get the necessary dose of nicotine, smokers tighten up more, and also smoke several "light" cigarettes instead of one at once. Doctors suggest that this kind of smoking even causes a special type of lung cancer – adenocarcinoma. It is possible that when smoking such cigarettes and taking stronger puffs, the resins get deeper, resulting in a malignant tumor. Adenocarcinoma is one of the most dangerous types of lung cancer (only 10% of patients live more than 5 years).
In the USA, since 2010, it has been prohibited to indicate on packs that cigarettes are "light" or "soft".
Fact #4
About fractures and PMSA well-known fact: smoking provokes or contributes to the development of various oncological diseases, including cancer of the throat, oral cavity and lungs.
Smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and can also cause infertility, erectile dysfunction and affect fetal development if a pregnant woman smokes. You can read about all this on cigarette packages.
But not everyone understands that smoking (including passive) it also contributes to the development of skin diseases (for example, atopic dermatitis). In addition, many people forget that smokers can lose their eyesight: smoking contributes to the degeneration of the macula – the area of the retina responsible for central vision. Its damage can lead to permanent blindness.
It has also been found that tobacco use makes bones more brittle and brittle. And after operations, wounds in smoking patients heal longer than in non-smokers.
Smoking also has psychological consequences. It is believed that smokers have a harder recovery after stress. Doctors say that the psychological state of smokers improves almost immediately after they quit the bad habit. Also, scientists at the University of Massachusetts found that women who smoke are twice as likely to suffer from premenstrual syndrome.
Fact #5
About plants for smokingThe most famous herb for smoking, besides tobacco, is cannabis (marijuana is made from it).
But in most countries it is banned, including in Russia. However, in addition to it, there are many other varieties of plants that have a similar effect when smoking and are partially or completely allowed. For example, wormwood. As you know, it is contained in absinthe, but its leaves are smoked independently. However, in case of overdose, this herb can be deadly.
In some countries, it is allowed to smoke sage, which contains the same hallucinogenic substance as wormwood – thujone. However, in Russia, sage for a short time (on the initiative of Gennady Onishchenko) was included in the list of prohibited drugs.
There is no separate ban on many herbs in Russia due to their small distribution, but they can still fall under the law "On Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances" as "analogues of narcotic drugs". To do this, the examination must establish that their chemical structure and properties are similar to narcotic drugs, which are in the legislative list of prohibited substances.
Fact #6
About the impact of smoking on a careerAttitudes towards smoking have changed over the centuries.
In Russia in the XVII century, under Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, it was banned. Smokers were beaten with sticks, and after the Moscow fire of 1634 they were executed. But Peter I, who came to power, allowed smoking, and in the XVIII century it became an integral element of any secular event in St. Petersburg.
Smoking was popular in Russia and the world until the end of the twentieth century. In the 1970s and 1980s, this habit was considered stylish. This image was created by tobacco companies in advertising, as well as movie actors and show business stars who appeared with cigarettes on film and television screens. Researchers believe that smoking shots in popular films contributed to the spread of this habit among young people.
In the West, attitudes towards smoking changed dramatically in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2006, the European Commission has officially recognized that refusal to hire or dismissal due to smoking is permissible. Some European and Japanese companies not only do not allow smoking in the office building, but also completely refuse to hire smoking candidates. In many companies, non-smokers or those who have decided to quit smoking are paid a small monthly premium. In Germany, life insurance is cheaper for non-smokers. The difference can be up to 100 euros per year for thirty–year-olds and 150 euros for forty-five-year-olds. A smoker who, when signing the contract, stated that he does not smoke, risks losing insurance. If he dies from an illness caused by smoking, his family will be paid either the amount that a confessed smoker would have received immediately, or they will not pay anything.
Despite the introduction of legislative bans on smoking in public places, the process of reducing the prestige of smokers in Russia has only recently begun. According to a survey conducted in 2011, only 25% of the surveyed representatives of various companies said that, other things being equal, they prefer a non-smoking applicant. Interestingly, the company's policy on smoking directly depends on whether its leader is a smoker.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru18.09.2013