A 57 year old lady , with a good socio-economic background, had visited me for an ulcer on her lower lip around 3 months back, and it was increasing at a rapid pace.
Cancer on the Lower Lip of the Patient
She had consulted many hospitals, who confirmed the lesion to be a lip cancer. She did not use any form of tobacco yet she had developed lip cancer. What could be the cause?
None of the hospitals, which she had visited earlier for investigation of her ulcer, were able to diagnose the causative agent. Over and above she affirmed that she was not a tobacco user. Her oral cavity was not healthy and definitely some thing was missing. It did not also look that she was telling a lie, and it also seemed that she wouldn’t use tobacco knowingly.
White Plaque like Lesion on the Right Buccal Mucosa
White precancerous lesion in the lower labial vestibule plus tobacco stains on teeth
Some reversible changes in the left buccal mucosa
So we went ahead to ask her of her habit and any special toothpaste or gargle she would use. It was then that we came to know that since childhood all her family members including herself were using a special toothpaste. She also said that she feels good after using the toothpaste.
This toothpaste was the causative agent of lip cancer in her lower lips. She was shocked to know the real cause of her cancer. This was her invisible tobacco that made her feel refreshed and good after using it. It is therefore important to realize the effects of products we are using in everyday life. We need to be alert about the unusual pleasantness or any other change that is happening in the body with a product because it might be a reason for cancer.
In one of my blogs earlier, I had described how to quit smoking by self; based on the experience and tried method of a friend. This method to self-quit had helped many individuals in Raj’s (my friend) circle to quit without fail. However, it is a time taking process and will require tenacious dedication from you for at least 6 months to see the results. Besides, not everyone would be able to get the same results as Raj had.
Therefore in this blog, I shall introduce to you a wonderful book that will make your quitting easy and simple. It enumerates ABC of quitting both effectively and successfully. The book is titled “Win Over Tobacco Made Easy” authored by Dr. Pawan Gupta, a renowned oncologist, author and social activist with 25+ years of experience and more than 7000 successful surgeries to his name.
Studies have demonstrated that hardly 7% people across the globe have successfully quit by self. In India, the relapse rate is extremely high. Those who have tried to quit have relapsed in the second month of their quitting! Often I hear tobacco users saying that “I have a strong will power and I can quit any time I want.” But if their willpower is really that strong, then why aren’t they able to quit? Why the relapse rate is so high and quit rate so low?
The answer is very simple. Neither do the majority of tobacco
users have strong willpower nor does the internet give them the right knowledge
to quit by self. Instead of trying and testing multiple methods of quitting and
failing every time, it is better to access the right resource and knowledge on
quitting effectively. That’s why I recommend this book by Dr. Gupta who has
made quitting simpler and manageable.
This book is available in 2 languages – English and Hindi and over a million copies have been sold already to help many tobacco users quit efficiently. Why not then grab your copy today and make life healthier? This book is available on https://www.icancare.org/book-win-over-tobacco-made-easy-60. Order today either for yourself or for your friend/relative/spouse who wants to self-quit or has failed in quitting multiple times (and still unwilling to seek professional help) but is positive about quitting.
I’m sure this book will enlighten you about the steps you must follow while quitting, the do’s and don’ts, what are withdrawal symptoms and how to manage them, how to design a plan of action in quitting, assessing self-health and most importantly it will help you to audit and monitor your own progress of quitting. This will enable you to understand what is going good for you, what is affecting you and how to improvise your action plan to make quitting successful.
In a nutshell this book will tell you “How to Quit” your habit of tobacco. Grab your copy without any delay and add atleast 13 more years of life to yourself by quitting a disease!
Is Your Heart Healthy or Did You Experience a Heart Attack? Write in the Comments Below.
When someone asks you, “What is the health problem of tobacco consumption?” your immediate answer is “It causes Cancer”. Another answer might be “Nothing! I have not experienced anything yet. I have been smoking/chewing since years and I’m still healthy.” However, do you know that tobacco consumption can cause other diseases too? Have you ever got yourself screened to really know the damage tobacco has already caused in your body?
Tobacco consumption causes numerous chronic diseases of
which Cardio-Vascular Diseases(CVDs), Stroke, CRD, TB, Asthma, COPD and NCDs
are the most frequently caused diseases besides cancer. And, in this blog, I
will enumerate on heart diseases caused by smoking/consuming smokeless tobacco products.
Let me tell you a few quick and interesting facts. As per the Factsheet released by WHO in 2018, deaths due to tobacco in India was more than 1 million and 48% of the deaths were due to CVD, 23% due to CRD and only 10% due to cancer. This is extremely alarming that more deaths are caused due to heart related diseases than cancer due to tobacco use. 4,49,844 deaths from CVDs could have been prevented if these people had quit tobacco on time (in 2018).
WHO Fact Sheet 2018
It is true that smoking/chewing can give you a heart attack or any other form of heart disease at some point in time in your life if you continue to consume tobacco regularly and do not quit on time. Smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease by 200%-400%. I’m sure not many people would be aware about it.
Smoking Increases Risk of Heart Disease by 200%-400%
The question is how does smoking/smokeless tobacco cause a heart attack or disease?
Tobacco smoke contains high levels of carbon monoxide (CO) that affects the heart directly. CO reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. Vital organs like the heart, lungs, brains, kidney, etc. do not always receive the right level of oxygen to perform everyday functions. This implies the heart has to pump more and harder to supply the right oxygen to the organs thereby increasing the heart rate and blood pressure. Over time, this causes constant “wear and tear” on the cardiovascular system thus causing a heart attack, high BP, blood clots, strokes, hemorrhages, aneurysms and other disorders.
Use of smokeless tobacco products increases the risk of high
blood pressure and heart rate. However, no study has proven that a severe heart
disease can be caused due to smokeless tobacco consumption. This does not imply
that a smoker should switch to smokeless form because oral cancer is caused in
98% of the smokeless tobacco consumers.
Smoking increases the risks for the following diseases:
Coronary heart disease
Rheumatic heart disease
Hypertension
Ischemic heart disease
Pulmonary heart disease
Cardiac arrest
Cerebrovascular disease
Atherosclerosis
Aortic aneurysm
Chest pain
Arrhythmia
What Else Can Smoking Do?
Increase the level of triglycerides in
your body
Lower the “good” cholesterol level
(HDL)
Make blood sticky and more likely to
clot, which can block blood flow to the heart and brain
Damage the cells that line the blood
vessels, leading to build up of fatty material (atheroma) which narrows the
artery which causes angina, heart attack or stroke.
Increase the build-up of plaque (fat, cholesterol, calcium and
other substances) in blood vessels
Cause thickening and narrowing of blood
vessels thereby harming blood circulation
It can also cause sudden cardiac death
of all types in both men and women
“Beyond its status as an independent risk factor,
smoking appears to have a multiplicative interaction with the other major risk
factors for CHD—high serum levels of lipids, untreated hypertension, and
diabetes mellitus (USDHHS 1983). For instance, if the presence of smoking alone
doubles the level of risk, the simultaneous presence of another major risk
factor is estimated to quadruple the risk (2 × 2). The presence of two other
risk factors with smoking results in approximately eight times the risk (2 × 2
× 2) of persons with no risk factors.” (NCBI, 2010).
There is no doubt that smoking will definitely
cause a heart attack or other forms of heart diseases. It is therefore important
to quit immediately, if not, then identify the symptoms as soon as possible
before it becomes severe and seek help to quit the habit of smoking.
References
Rostron BL, Chang JT, Anic GM, et al Smokeless
tobacco use and circulatory disease risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Open Heart 2018; 5:e000846. doi: 10.1136/openhrt-2018-000846
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (US); National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion (US); Office on Smoking and Health (US). How Tobacco Smoke Causes
Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A
Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (US); 2010. 6, Cardiovascular Diseases. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53012/
