Smoking habits among Indians – reasons, effects

Tobacco in any form is life threatening and is considered health hazard. Smoking is a major method of consumption of tobacco.

Smoking has become a well established lifestyle-related foible during the past few years, which accounts for a majority of cancer cases and heart attacks in India. Cigarette smoking became a fad as often smoking is extensively publicized indirectly in films and film personalities are seen smoking in different styles that attracts and leaves a strong influence on the youth.

Stopping smoking even in middle age before having cancer or some other serious ailments avoids most of the later excess risk of death from tobacco. The benefits of stopping at earlier ages are even greater. Once smoking is given up, the risk of heart attacks are normalized to that of a non-smoker in 3 years.

The increasing number of college goers and women smokers in India –causes, effects.

Young college-going youth is fond of smoking. Youth pick up this habit to attract the attention of society. They release stress and feel happy while smoking. Smoking at a young age usually begins for psychosocial reasons such as: Parental smoking, Curiosity, Peer pressure, Rebelliousness, Assertion of independence. One major encouragement for smoking in among youth (including women) is group conformity.  Many factors lead to increase in women smoking. Smoking dulls the appetite and is seen as an easy and convenient way of following diet plan to help reduce weight. Once smoking becomes regular the pharmacological properties of nicotine are a major influence on persistence of the habit.

A shallow knowledge of the health risks is not enough to convince youth to not smoke. Cigarette smokers have lower level of lung function than those persons who have never smoked. Smoking reduces the rate of lung growth. Smoking hurts young person’s physical fitness in terms of performance, even amongst young people trained in competitive athletics. Young smokers suffer from breathlessness almost produce phlegm more than two times as often and three times as often as youth that do not smoke..

Smoking creates health problems among women, especially reproductive health. Smoking not only affects health of eggs produced adversely; it can compromise the health of a pregnant women and the foetus. This hold good for passive smokers as well. Tobacco consumers are more vulnerable to disease especially cancer and particularly lung cancer.

Measures to curb smoking

Enforcing stringent measures to try and curb tobacco use by the government. Many smokers in India are ignorant of the health risks that smoking poses. Therefore, steps should be taken to educate mostly the poor and uneducated Indians about the risks associated with smoking. Ban smoking in public private work places.

Ways to kick smoking – solutions.

SMOKING CESSATION

There are different strategies to enable smoking cessation. Programmes that use several modes of repeated counseling and interventions are the most efficient for the initial and long term cessation.

  Interventions include individualized counseling telephone counseling and group therapy. Self help materials such as pamphlets, cassettes, and videos work best as adjuvant to clinicians advice. The use of pulmonary fn testing and carbon monoxide testing give feed back regarding quitting rate.

Benefits of smoking cessation

1. Decreased risk of coronary heart disease
2. Reversal of increased tendency towards clotting of blood.
3. decreased risk of  LBW baby in women
4. Improved taste and appetite.

 Long term benefits include decrease in mortality and morbidity.

Social interventions that can be instituted to help curb smoking.

1. increased tobacco taxes
2. mass media tobacco education
3. counter advertising campaigns
4. business and work place indoor smoking bans
5. Phone quit lines and internet counseling resources and health care providers.
6. www.quitnet .com www.surgeongeneral.govt/tobacco

Pharmacological interventions for smoking cessation:

1. Nicotine polarilux gums
2. Nicotine lozenges
3. Nicotine transdermal patch       
4. Nicotine inhaler
5. Nicotine nasal spray
6. Bupropion 150 mg OD (Zyban)
7. Clonidine
8. Nortriptylline
9. Varenicline (Alpha 4)3 (Beta 2)2 receptor partial agonist
10. Rimonaband (B1 receptor antagonist)
11. Nicotine vaccines and antibodies to nicotine

Nicotine replacement and other medications are given to help the patients quit smoking but it is primarily the patients will to quit that is of foremost importance.

Smoking is one of the leading preventable causes of death in our country.

A smoker can improve his/ her health and lengthen his/ her life by quitting it along with other lifestyle changes like diet, exercise or stress management?

Given the catastrophic health hazards caused due to smoking, any smoker who has ever tried quitting knows it is easier said than done.

Taking help from various therapies can help smokers leave the habit and avoid relapse of the addiction.

The therapies include

1. Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
2. Hypnosis/ Alternative Therapies
3. Counseling and Behavioural Therapy
4. Support Therapy
5. A Holistic Approach
6. Yoga and meditation

- By Dr D.Raghotham Reddy, MD (Pulmonologist),Yashoda hospitals