National Take Down Tobacco Day

Posted by Ryan on 4/1/2022 to Physical Health

Tobacco use and exposure to second hand smoke kills almost half a million people every year in the U.S. alone. This makes it the single leading cause of preventable death in our country. Today is April 1, or what many know as April fools day, but it is also National Take Down Tobacco day. There are many ways to tackle this nation wide problem, however, the most successful way would be to look at the many different ways one can harm their body when they use tobacco, and then look at the many health benefits one can get when they quit using tobacco products.

Tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, in which 250 of them are known to be harmful. The use of tobacco is responsible for more than half a million premature deaths each year, out of these, 36% are from cancer, 39% are from heart disease and stroke, and 24% are from lung disease. On top of these deadly effects, smoking can also cause damage to nearly every organ in a persons body, leading to diabetes, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, age-related macular degeneration, and cataracts. All of these can also affect non-smokers through secondhand smoke, which makes smoking a much more serious problem. While these are all devastating and life-threatening effects, it is never too late to quit tobacco use and receive the immense health benefits in return.

There are plenty of both short and long term health benefits when someone quits smoking. The immediate benefits of quitting include heart rate and blood pressure returning to normal as well as carbon monoxide levels in the blood starting to decrease. In a few weeks, quitters get improved circulation, less phlegm, and they begin to cough much less frequently. In several months, people who quit smoking will gain a substantial amount of lung function. In the long term, quitters will have less chance of cancer, heart disease, and also a large increase in life expectancy. It is vital that we work as hard as we can to fight tobacco use in America and help those that we know with their addiction.