You have probably read and heard that smoking is bad for you; really bad. If you are a smoker you have seen the statutory warnings, the pictures and the labels that tell you what smoking will do to your health and your insides.
It occurs to one that smoking is really selfish thing to do – it isn’t just one’s own health that one endangers – it is also the health of others around that is impacted by passive smoking, and when one’s health deteriorates, it is inevitably the family of the smoker who has to pay the price; both emotional and financial.
And to add to all of these, here are some statistics about smoking that are shocking as well as scary.
- Smoking causes not only lung cancer but is also responsible for causing many other types of cancer, as well as heart disease and other cardiovascular problems.
- In the United States alone, as many as half a million individuals die from smoking, and all these deaths are preventable.
- Even the best types of ventilation and air circulatory systems are not proof against the harmful impacts of passive smoking; and physical isolation of smokers is the only solution to prevent innocent non smokers from suffering the consequences of smokers.
- Yearly, there are 4 times as many deaths that occur as a result of smoking than, alcohol and illegal drugs combined. Tobacco claims 12 times as many lives as AIDS and kills 10 times as many people as road accidents. There is one person out there who dies every three minutes due to some or other disease caused by or related to smoking.
- Some experts are of the view that lung cancer can be eliminated if there was a complete prohibition placed on smoking.
- If a smoker thinks that he or she has years before the consequences of their habit catches up with them, they would be wrong – in fact the smoke entering the lungs causes damage to the body instantly.
- Toxins such as those found in paint stripper, mothballs, fuel, gas chamber points and toilet cleaners are also to be found in your regular, average cigarette as well. The average stick contains 4000 chemicals, out of which 600 are toxic and about 69 can cause cancer.
- So called smoke-less cigarettes may actually be worse for you than regular cigarettes.
- Smoking cuts out an average 13 to 14 years from your life.