The warning of a pneumologist

Smoking continues to ravage and remains one of the most serious global public health problems that have ever affected humanity. According to the World Health Organization, over one billion people smoke, and half of those who do it will die from this habit. Smoking affects adults and children alike, irreparably destroying the lungs.

"My patients actually smoke from the age of 18 to 20, but they start to cochete with the 14-16 year old cigarette. My recordman, obviously negative, is a patient who has been smoking for six years. I also have a smoker from 8 years of age and 80% less than normal at the current age of 40 years. The starting age of smoking also depends on the socio-economic conditions: the more precarious they are, the earlier the age, "the primordial pneumologist Laura Cardoş, of the Onco Card hospital, describes the grim picture of this.

Initially, cigarette smoke irritates and inflates the airways. Over time, immunity decreases and increases the risk of infections, dermatological and cardiovascular diseases. Then gradually, in years, irreparable damage to the lungs occurs. Nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar are just a few of the chemicals that compromise the cellular structures of the lungs.

"90% of lung cancers are caused by smoking, ie they occur in smokers. Toxic substances in cigarette smoke gradually produce cellular DNA changes with mutagenic effects that cause lung cancer. The risk of illness is directly proportional to the number of cigarettes smoked per day, but also to the number of years of smoking. Thus, the risk of lung cancer is 20 times higher in those who smoke 20 cigarettes a day compared to those who smoke a cigarette a day. In cigarette smoke, there are radioactive substances (eg plutonium), which causes the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds, of which 50 compounds are found to be carcinogens. At the same time, the risks are higher for the consumption of non-filter cigarettes than for those with filter, "adds doctor Laura Cardoş

Smoking annually kills over 7 million people in the world, and almost 900,000 of these are passive smokers.

"At the time of inhalation from the cigarette, only 15% of the sucked smoke remains in the lungs of the active smoker, and the remaining 85% is excreted outdoors and inhaled non-smoking, equally to those who smoke. This involves certain risks, such as: increased cardiovascular accident risk, over 25% higher for passive smokers than for non-smokers and risk of lung cancer, 30% higher for passive smokers towards non-smokers, "warns the Onco Card specialist

If a person stops smoking, the heart muscle and the blood vessels return to one year after stopping smoking. The lungs never recover, although the risk of lung cancer is gradually decreasing in 15 years. But it remains much higher than in people who have never smoked.

"Lung cancer has become one of the world's leading causes of death. Lung cancer is an extremely serious tumor in which symptoms appear late, evolving asymptomatically, meaning "mute" in most cases. Less than one-third of cases are at the time of diagnosis at a useful therapeutic stage, with overall survival of 6-18 months, and only about 20% of patients live longer than 1 year. At the time of diagnosis, 55% of patients have metastasis, about 30% have localized disease localized disease and only 15% have localized / limited disease status, "says Laura Cardoş, one of the most serious oncological diseases.

Although there are smokers who do not cancer, they can be considered lucky because they have a genetic background that prevents them from becoming ill. But the same can not be said about children exposed to cigarette smoke: they are more likely to suffer from bronchitis, bronchial asthma, pneumonia, otitis media, dermatological conditions and delays in brain development.

source:descopera.ro