Quit smoking on World Smoking Boycott Day
Smoking causes stroke and coronary heart disease, damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower, can cause lung disease, causes most cases of lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, infertility, etc. Prof. Dr. İlgi Şemin reported that besides nicotine and tar, there were more than 4 thousand toxic chemicals in a cigarette. “Cigarette is the number one leading cause of death worldwide. Hardening of the arteries and clots caused by this result in high blood pressure and heart attacks. Stroke occurs when a clot blocks the blood flow to part of your brain, and blockages caused by smoking can reduce blood flow to your legs and skin, which may result in gangrene. Cigarette smoking causes most cases of mouth, lung, and throat cancer, as well as cancer in other organs. Smoking damages airways, if you have asthma, tobacco smoke can trigger an attack or make an attack worse. It can result in chronic inflammation. Smoking can cause lung disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Infertility also is a threat to both male and female smokers,” said Prof. Dr. Şemin and she called attention to the risks of passive smoking. Prof. Dr. Şemin said, “Smoking affects more people than just the smoker. Secondhand smoke (SHS) has the same harmful chemicals (more than 4 thousand) that smokers inhale. Everyone can be exposed to SHS in public places where smoking is allowed. It is very important to clean the air to reduce the effects of these toxic substances indoors.”
It is possible to quit smoking!
Prof. Dr. Şemin indicated that there were many clinics to help quit smoking. “You can seek help from Stop Smoking Helpline (Alo 171) or from local Stop Smoking Clinics. Your will power is the only thing you need to quit smoking. Since each individual is unique, the program will be customized for you. Quitting can be hard for some people because of withdrawal symptoms such as weight gain, irritability, headaches. However, it is a matter of replacing bad habits with good ones. Engaging in sports activities is very important. The biggest harm of cigarette smoking is that it can be too late to reverse the harms, therefore, it is very important to end this harmful habit before it is too late,!” stated Prof. Dr. Şemin.