World No Tobacco Day 2017: Tobacco kills one person every six seconds; health effect of smoking and nicotine

New Delhi: Tobacco harms nearly every organ in the body, including the heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes, mouth, reproductive organs, bones, bladder, and digestive organs.

Tobacco kills

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco uses kill nearly six million people in a year, of which around five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use. Whereas more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke.

In fact, tobacco claims one live every six seconds.

The scenario is equally scary in India with estimated number of tobacco users being 274.9 million.

As per Global Adult Tobacco Survey India (GATS), about 163.7 million Indians use smokeless tobacco, whereas 68.9 million people are smokers. Also 42.3 millions are users of both smoking and smokeless tobacco. It means around 35% of adults (47.9% males and 20.3% females) in India use tobacco in some form or the other.

Tobacco products contains around 5000 toxic substances, however, the most important and dangerous constituents are – nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar.

Nicotine, a poisonous substance leads to addiction, is more addictive and deadlier than cocaine. Nicotine travels rapidly to the brain, in a matter of seconds, after absorption. The side effects of nicotine can affect the heart, hormones and the gastrointestinal system.

Effects of tobacco and nicotine on your body

The effects of tobacco and nicotine on the human health are serious because it harms almost every organ in the body. Here are some of the health problems linked to tobacco use:

Cancers

Tobacco is associated with a number of cancers, including the respiratory tract, lung, upper gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas, kidney, urinary bladder, oral cavity, nasal cavity, cervix, etc.

Cardiovascular diseases

The chemicals in tobacco harm your blood cells and damage the function of your heart, thereby increasing your risk for a heart attack, stroke, and coronary heart disease (CHD).

Respiratory diseases

Smoking is the most common cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Smoking is associated with acute attacks of asthma. Smoking also substantially increases the risk of tuberculosis and death from TB.

Pregnancy complications

Smoking during pregnancy can harm the mother as well as the baby. Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely than other women to have a miscarriage, stillbirth, an ectopic pregnancy. Smoking can also cause bleeding during pregnancy, premature delivery of baby and abnormalities of the placenta.

Effects on newborns and childhood

Maternal smoking is associated with congenital malformations in baby such as orofacial clefts, clubfoot and atrial-septal defects. Babies born to smoking mothers have a greater risk of allergies, higher blood pressure in childhood, increased likelihood of obesity, stunted growth, poorer lung function, increased likelihood of developing asthma.

Tobacco use can also worsen other health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, kidney damage, eye Disease, dental disease – caries - diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases, erectile dysfunction, etc.

Every year, on May 31, WHO and partners observe World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), highlighting the health and additional risks associated with tobacco use, and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption.