The start of the journey of a tobacco user is of enjoyment. The tobacco is packed and advertised to attract the youth. The flavor, menthol, etc added to tobacco – smoking. chewing or vaping is to make it an enjoyable thing. But the addictive factor added to it is slowly affecting the brain making it irresistible. The youth are attracted to tobacco by surrogate advertisements and misleading advertisements.
Cigarettes contain 7000 chemicals, of these 200 are severely harmful and 69 are cancer-causing chemicals. In chewing tobacco similar constituents with 28 very harmful carcinogens. The Vaping device also contains chemicals that are leading to new forms of diseases.
No chemicals cause acute injury, it is a journey. In simple words, tobacco will not cause any diseases immediately. Its chronic use will slowly take its toll. Slowly diseases appear and it affects the body, initially reversible and later irreversible. This can be any time from the start of the tobacco journey and depends on many other factors. 200 types of diseases have been documented to be caused by tobacco. Tobacco users will have some or other diseases related to tobacco use, they cannot escape! In India, the introduction of chewing tobacco in the 1970s and massive advertisements brought a new form of disease Oral and oropharyngeal Cancers and Submucous fibrosis. Now, we are the World’s highest in these diseases.
If you have taken tobacco for some time and you think you are not suffering, you are mistaken. The brain is adapting to your tobacco use, its function starts deteriorating, and to keep up with its pace as a non-tobacco user, the demand for tobacco keeps increasing. You are in a vicious cycle.
The journey starts with some foolish person enticing you to your first tobacco – smoking, chewing, or vaping will soon turn into suffering for yourself and for your relatives. These are the phases of tobacco use that will ultimately end in a painful untimely death.
Your present choice will determine your future life! #knowtobacco to choose your life journey.
Tobacco is a disease. Tobacco industries are enticing the new generation with newer forms, packaging, and flavors. One has to be smart not to start. For those who have started it is important they quit the earliest. Quitting needs hand-holding by a certified tobacco cessation specialist. Look for someone around you or call 011-43077695 or download the app- ICanCaRe at http://app.icancare.in
Every day 5500 youths are trapped and they start tobacco. Every day 3700 are dying a painful death. We have to change this scenario. Every unit must have a TOBACCO MARSHAL. Join a Tobacco MARSHAL to SAVE the youth! http://icancare.in/academy/marshal
(The Author – Dr. Pawan Gupta M.Ch. is Director of Surgical Oncology at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali. Patparganj and Noida. He is the author of the book – Win Over Tobacco Made Easy, Be Smart Do Not Start and is highly recognized for his work on Oral Cancer and Tobacco Cessation. He is the convenor for the Certified Course in Tobacco Cessation at Gujarat University. He launched the #SAVEtheyouth campaign and Tobacco MARSHALs in the community)
(Critically reviewed by Tobacco MARSHAL Sonal Bhatia, Shubh Bhatia, and Lakshay Srijay Gupta)
Very informative article, as always by Pawan Sir. Thank you very much sir.
Grateful dr Kshipra. we have to spread the message
It’s a hard core reality that smoking is becoming a sign of coolness and more being normalized and something new to try with now vaping.
Most difficult scenario is those who know the consequences are using the most.
I pledge to not start and make my peers understand the effects by conducting a study.
thanks, Urvashi. it is important that we reach out. we need more like you