Why You Should Quit Smoking Today!

Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the world. On average, people who smoke die about 10 years earlier than people who have never smoked.Most people know smoking can cause cancer. But it can also cause a number of other diseases and can damage nearly every organ in the body, including the lungs, heart, blood vessels, reproductive organs, mouth, skin, eyes, and bones.

Exposure to tobacco smoke is dangerous to children and other non-smokers. The term second hand smoke is used for smoke breathed by non-smokers. It is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. Being near someone who is smoking is called passive smoking. If you are regularly around someone who smokes at least a few cigarettes a day, your risks of medical problems are similar to the increased risks for smokers. A non-smoker in a very smoky room for 1 hour with several smokers inhales as many bad chemicals as someone who has smoked 10 or more cigarettes.

Smoking leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ of the body. A significant number of people are living with a disease caused by smoking. For every person who dies because of smoking, at least 30 people live with a serious smoking-related illness. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also increases risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis.Getting a check-up done from your nearest diagnostic centre can help you stay ahead of your illness.

Second-hand smoke exposure contributes to approximately 41,000 deaths among non-smoking adults and 400 deaths in infants each year. Second-hand smoke causes stroke, lung cancer, and coronary heart disease in adults. Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma, respiratory symptoms, and slowed lung growth.