By Zainab Omotayo Ibrahim
We all know smoking is harmful to our health, so why do we smoke?
This is a question a lot of our youths, teenager, and even adults can’t really explain. Behind every pack of cigarettes its written that “the federal ministry of health warns that smokers are liable to die young” even with this they still buy and smoke cigarettes.
Health wise, smoking can kill but before you die, you could experience some terrible diseases from smoking. Here are some of the most terrible diseases caused by smoking
Lung Cancer: More people die from lung cancer than any other type of cancer. Cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer; it’s responsible for 87% of lung cancer deaths. Your chance of still being alive five years after being diagnosed is less than 1 in 5.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease): it is an obstructive lung disease that makes it hard to breathe. It causes serious long-term disability and early death. COPD starts by making it hard to be active, such as playing, then it gradually gets worse.
Heart Disease: Smoking harms nearly every organ in your body, including your heart. Smoking can cause blockages and narrowing in your arteries, which means less blood and oxygen flow to your heart.
It can also lead to Asthma
Reproductive Effects in Women: Smoking can cause ectopic pregnancy in women, which is when a fertilized egg is implanted in any other tissue other than the uterus. The egg can’t survive and, if left untreated, can be life-threatening for the mother. Smoking also causes reduced fertility.
Premature, Low Birth-Weight Babies it also leads to complications that can lead to death for both mother and child
Diabetes: You’re more likely to get type 2 diabetes if you smoke. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes is 30 to 40% higher for smokers than non-smokers. Additionally, smoking increases the risk of complications once diagnosed with diabetes, such as heart and kidney disease, poor blood flow to legs and feet (which leads to infections and possible amputation), blindness and nerve damage.
Blindness, Cataracts and Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Over 10 Other Types of Cancer, Including Colon, Cervix, Liver, Stomach and Pancreatic Cancer
Basically, all the cancers. For both cancer patients and survivors, those who smoke are more likely to develop a second primary cancer. And now we know that smoking causes at least a dozen cancers, including liver and colorectal, and reduces the survival rates for prostate cancer patients.
Recently, most youths and teenagers try different types of smoking substances. Some names common among them are;
SK(silent killer), AZ (arizona), Loud, Colorado, Weed, Bush. It is sad that they get more intoxicated with these ones than the real cigarette.
We all know the health hazard we just hope for all of them to stop before it too late for their health.
*Ibrahim, is a student of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri.
