Why Is Passive Smoking As Dangerous As Smoking Cigarettes?

Van P

9 years ago

When you&&num;8217&semi;re living in a big Indian city such as Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata, you&&num;8217&semi;re vulnerable to passive smoking or secondhand smoke (SHS) from people around you&period; According to WHO, the tobacco epidemic is one of the greatest hazards to public health&period; It kills about six million people each year&period; Though more than five million people die as a result of direct abuse of the lethal stuff, 6,00,000 or more die each year due to continued subjection to SHS&period; And, that is not all&period; Based on the data provided by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), tobacco consumption resulted in one million fatalities and considerable health loss in India&period; This data don&&num;8217&semi;t include health hazards resulting from SHS&period; Else, the figures would have been far more alarming&period; &NewLine;<h2 class="western" style="text-align&colon; justify&semi;" align="justify">What Passive Smoking Can Do to You</h2>&NewLine;In the metropolitan cities, people often accompany their buddies or colleagues at work for a smoke break&period; Did you know that even a little exposure to passive smoking can adversely affect your health, and even prove fatal&quest; According to Dr&period; Manoj Kumar, Associate Director and Head of Cardiac Cath Lab, Max Balaji Super Specialty Hospital, Patparganj, non-smokers face greater risks when they are working or living with chain smokers or those who happen to visit public places frequented by other smokers&period; &NewLine;How long you are exposed to passive smoking determines the level of damage caused by cigarette smoke to your body&period; According to Dr&period; Kumar, if you are exposed to SHS for about five minutes, adequate damage is done to your aorta, the principal artery in the human body providing oxygenated blood to the circulatory system&period; Again, exposure to cigarette smoke for about 20-30 minutes leads to excessive blood clotting, and finally, to atherosclerosis&period; This condition makes a passive smoker prone to strokes and heart attacks&period; If you are exposed to tobacco smoke for two hours or more, it can trigger serious ailments like heart attacks and arrhythmias in high-risk heart patients&period; &NewLine;Though we are celebrating the &&num;8216&semi;World No Tobacco Day&&num;8217&semi; every year, how conscious are we about the perils of passive smoking&quest; Remember that there are no safe levels of passive smoking&period; Even a designated smoking zone doesn&&num;8217&semi;t make one immune to SHS&period; The only way to stay safe from secondhand tobacco smoke is by living in a 100 percent smoke-free environment&period; &NewLine;<h2 class="western" style="text-align&colon; justify&semi;" align="justify">Delhi Unsafe Due to Passive Smoking </h2>&NewLine;Experts believe that if you are living in Delhi, you&&num;8217&semi;re not free from SHS as you inhale tobacco smoke all day from other chain smokers around you&period; According to C Arden Pope III, Mary Lou Fulton Professor of Economics at the Brigham Young University warned about the harmful effects of passive smoking&period; The continuous exposure to particulate matter (PM) 2&period;5 of 100-150 µg for every cubic meter is equivalent to staying in a house where 10-15 packets of cigarettes are used daily&period; As far as Delhi is concerned, most of the days and throughout the year, the city&&num;8217&semi;s PM levels are dangerous&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s PM 2&period;5 levels are more than 100 µg for every cubic meter&period; Though an individual normally doesn&&num;8217&semi;t smoke that amount of cigarettes, it&&num;8217&semi;s like inhaling tobacco smoke from 5-6 people&period; &NewLine;<h2 class="western" style="text-align&colon; justify&semi;" align="justify">Stop Smoking to Stay Healthy and Save Others</h2>&NewLine;When you quit smoking, you are not only saving yourself, but also <a href="http&colon;//tobaccofree&period;org&period;in/support-tobacco-control" target="&lowbar;blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">protecting others from passive smoking</a>&period; After 12 hours of kicking the butt, the levels of carbon monoxide in your blood plummets to normal&period; Within 90 days of quitting cigarettes, your lung function and blood circulation improve to a considerable extent&period; After one year, the risks associated with heart ailments is reduced to half, and after a period of five years, cancer risks are lessened too&period; &NewLine;Passive smoking is as fatal as smoking cigarettes&period; Raise your voice whenever you are a victim of SHS&period; Fight the tobacco epidemic now for a smoke-free India&period; &NewLine;