Daily Graphic (pg11) Tues. June 1/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THIS year’s World No-Tobacco Day focuses on women on the theme “Gender and Tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women”. Cigarette smoking is a known killer, but hundreds of thousands of people, including women, continue to smoke.
Tobacco smoking has been a habit among both men and women with dire consequences for both the primary smoker and those around them (secondary inhalers). According to health experts, 40,000 deaths are recorded every year among people exposed to second hand-smoking.
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the vapours either tasted or inhaled.The substance for years had been criticised, but became popular nonetheless.
Smoking is the most common method used in consuming tobacco, and tobacco is the most common substance smoked. The agricultural product is often mixed with other additives.
The resulting vapour is then inhaled and the active substances absorbed through the alveoli in the lungs. The active substances trigger chemical reactions in nerve endings which heightens the heart’s rate, memory, alertness, and reaction time. Dopamine and later endorphins are released, which are often associated with pleasure. As of the year 2000,smoking was said to be practised by some 1.22 billion people across the globe and men were said to be more likely to smoke more than women, however, health experts say the gender gap declines with the young and the poor more likely to smoke more than the wealthy.
Many smokers started smoking during adolescence or in the stage of adulthood. Usually, during the early stages, smoking provides pleasurable sensations, serving as a source of positive reinforcement. After an individual has smoked for many years, the avoidance of withdrawal symptoms and negative reinforcement become the key motivations to continue.
Despite known risks of cigarette smoking, more than 23 per cent of women across the world still smoke, increasing their risk of cervical cancer, heart disease, respiratory problems and more.
Most women who smoke are between the ages of 25 and 44. Teenage women are said to make up a significant percentage of smokers.
Women are said to be more at risk for certain problems related to smoking than men. Women who use oral contraceptives or other hormonal forms of birth control are especially, at risk of developing serious side effects. Women using hormone forms of birth control, who smoke, increase their risk of developing life threatening blood clots and strokes. This is even worse for women over the age of 35 who smoke and use birth control pills.
Also, women smokers who use oral contraceptives according to health experts, can develop high blood pressure and they may have fertility problems.
Studies suggest that women who smoke are three-four times more likely to experience problems conceiving than those who do not. This may be because of a decreased ovulatory response. In some women, the egg has trouble implanting when the woman smokes.
Smoking also affects women's normal cyclical changes, including those that occur during menopause and menstruation.Women who start smoking during their teen years are said to be more at risk of developing early menopause than women who do not smoke.Smokers may also experience more menstrual problems including abnormal bleeding or amenorrhoea than women who don't smoke. This is because smoking often lowers levels of oestrogen’s in the body.
However, women who quit smoking are said to be more likely to realise immediate health benefits.Those who quit smoking before they reach the age of 50 reduce their risk of dying of smoking by as much as one-half.Smoking cessation also reduces the risk of heart disease in people exposed to second hand smoke.
Smoking is said to increase ones risk of developing a condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The lung damage that occurs from pulmonary disease is not often reversible. However,if one quits smoking, the lung function according to scientists would not decline further, and one may notice an improvement in coughing and breathing.
Also cigarette smoking is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and women who smoke more than double their risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Immediately stopping smoking can result in instant improvement in ones cardiovascular function and a reduced risk of heart disease.
After smoking cessation has continued for at least a year, one’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease according to health experts, drops by 50 per cent and will continue to decline further. Some studies suggest the heart attack risk for smokers drops after two years of cessation.
Cigarette smoking contributes to developing several different kinds of cancer, including cervical cancer, lung cancer, cancer of the oesophagus, mouth, bladder and pancreas and stopping can improve ones survival rate and reduce the risk of developing severe cancers resulting from smoking.
Smoking also contributes to bone loss, thus increasing a woman's risk of developing osteoporosis and experts say 10 years after stopping smoking, a woman's excess risk of osteoporosis declines significantly.
Women who smoke are also more at risk in developing breast cancer. Experts say the risk of developing fatal forms of breast cancer is 75 per cent higher for women who smoke than those who do not, and the number of cigarettes a woman smokes per day is said to have a resultant effect on their breast cancer survival rate. Women who smoke are also 48 per cent more likely to develop a rare form of vulva cancer.
Smoking is dangerous to pregnant women. Pregnant women who smoke, often give birth to babies with birth defects and low birth weights. Mothers who smoke are also more at risk of a miscarriage, premature rupture of the membranes and placenta previa, increased risk of strokes, heart attacks and blood clots.
Babies born to mothers who smoke often experience withdrawal symptoms during the first week of life.Over time,smoking also contributes to skin wrinkling and may even reduce one’s sexual ability.Quitting smoking however,improves all these conditions immediately.
Younger female smokers are said to be at risk of a heart attack compared to men who smoke. Women who smoke according to experts have on the average a first heart attack at about age 66, compared to women who don't smoke at age 81.
The good news according to health experts is that, there are many methods one can adopt to help quit smoking. Unfortunately, smoking cessation, they say is difficult. Smoking is an addiction. Nicotine is addictive and causes many people to fail when they try quitting.
This is because when one quits smoking, one is likely to have withdrawal symptoms. These are often unpleasant, and may include cigarette cravings, insomnia, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, restlessness and even depression. These withdrawal symptoms are usually hardest to deal with and most intense during the first three days after smoking cessation. Fortunately, the cravings according to experts do go away if you remain smoke free.
Some people in trying to quit also experience mild depression, but usually this is not severe enough to warrant any treatment. However, experts advise that when one is having difficulty with depression, treatment may be recommended.
According to health experts, another factor that prevents most women who are into smoking from stopping, was because they were likely to gain weight. According to them, the reason people gain weight when they quit smoking was simply because they eat more. Many women gain between two and five pounds when they first quit.Over a period of time, this may increase to ten pounds.
However, the good news according to experts, is that weight gain and smoking cessation are not unavoidable. They say if one adopts an exercise programme and eat healthy foods, one is not likely to gain much weight. And more importantly, the benefits of quitting smoking outweigh any small weight gain by ten times.
Some recommended remedies for ‘cold turkeys’ developed by people who try to quit smoking, is by using over-the-counter cures such as nicotine gum and patches.
Nicotine patch, according to experts, helps reduce the physical withdrawal symptoms and cravings associated with smoking cessation.
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