youth of nowadays
Kicking the habit on National Youth Tobacco Free Days
Young people all around Australia are being asked to quit smoking today, on National Youth Tobacco Free Day. Smoking habits can start in the early teens, so refusing to take up the habit before it develops is the key."Tobacco smoking is responsible for the premature death of about 19,000 Australians each year. Today is your chance to decide you don't want to become a statistic," said Dr Kelly Seach, RACGP Registrar Representative.
"Much better than quitting smoking, is to stay away from it all together. Lung cancer is not the only risk associated with cigarettes - smoking can literally steal your youth. It can have an impact on your eyesight, your small intestine, cause premature facial wrinkling and even impotence.
"For young people who smoke, today is all about giving you the support you need to quit. It is not easy but there are many support resources that can help you to breathe easier. One of the best supports is your local GP.
"In the battle to beat cigarettes, GPs and members of our practice teams, provide much more than simple advice. Research shows that advising smokers to quit is not enough to get them over the finish line.
"GPs can support patients to move to alternate sources of nicotine, such as patches or gum, to help to manage cravings. Evidence shows all forms of nicotine replacement therapy, including patches, nasal sprays, inhalers, lozenges, sublingual tablets and gum are effective in helping smokers to quit. We know these therapies nearly double the rate of quitting after 12 months compared with placebos.
"Quitting can deliver real health benefits very quickly. Within 12 hours, all the nicotine will metabolise, and after 24 hours blood carbon monoxide levels will drop significantly. After five days, your sense of smell and taste will improve, and after six weeks, the risk of wound infection after surgery is reduced.
"The benefits continue after one year when the risk of coronary heart disease is halved compared with continuing smokers, and after 10 years the risk of lung cancer is also half that of continuing smokers. After 10 to 15 years, the all-cause mortality in former smokers is at the same level as people who have never smoked. There is also an immediate benefit for people with respiratory disease in the rate of loss of functioning lung tissue.
"Kicking the habit today is the best way to ensure that you stay healthy - not only on youth, but for the rest of your life."
FACT SHEET KICKING THE HABIT
Tobacco smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia.
Cigarette smoking can do terrible damage to your health:
· There are at least 25 diseases for which tobacco is a known or probable cause.
· Smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, and a range of cancers and other diseases and conditions.
· Smoking is also associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other chronic respiratory diseases, as well as higher rates of wound infection following surgery.
Smoking causes:
· more than 19,000 deaths each year
· 80 percent of all drug-related deaths
· around 11 times the number of road crash fatalities.
· one in eight new cancers, and one in five cancer deaths.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice. The RACGP has the largest general practitioner membership of any medical organisation in Australia, with the majority of Australia's general practitioners belonging to their professional college. Over 23,000 general practitioners participate in the RACGP Continuing Professional Development Program. The RACGP National Rural Faculty, representing more than 5,000 members, has the largest rural general practitioner membership of any medical organisation in
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13 Comments
I like to think of it the other way, smokers are selflessly helping society by enjoying something that MAY (not will, may) shorten their life while at the same time propping up (in the case of the UK at least) the national health service with their tax contributions.
The possibly shorter life also reduces their impact on society after they retire, less money paid out in pensions, health care, etc.
You might as well say that heroin addicts contribute to society in their own misguided way by living rough and dying young.
The trouble is, the anti-smoking lobby distort the facts to make it seem much much worse than it is. The majority of CHAINSMOKERS may suffer from said ailments, but then, the same could be said for people who binge on high sugar or alcohol. Both of those carry heavy health penalties too, including diabetes, liver failure, obesity, etc.
Moderation is the key.
If you can't control yourself, it's not the smoking that's at fault, it's you. If you CAN, as I can by limiting myself to 10/day, which I have always done, what damage does get caused will probably be minimal.
Telling someone who is in their prime that their life could be made a few years shorter, that in later life they could suffer a dibilitating disease or die of cancer, means nothing unless you can see that it could happen to you.
Encouraging healthy living at a young age, moving away from the images in the media of stick thin girls being considered attractive and pushing the idea that being addicted to sucking on a tube of burning foliage is totally 'un-cool' would go further to prevent kids taking up smoking. IMO anyway.
'The trouble is, the anti-smoking lobby distort the facts to make it seem much much worse than it is.' Spike - don't you think the pro-smoking lobby distorts the figures too?
And they're seen as untrustworthy from the start by most. The anti-smoking bunch are seen as trustworthy by a lot, so the figures they spit out tend to be taken "neet" rather than with a few pinches of salt.
Smoking's banned from almost every single place indoors apart from your own home these days.
PLUS, the smoke you exhale is far worse than what you inhale and the rest of the people is forced to inhale that.
Sorry, but I can not see that smokers help in any way, except shortening the lives around everyone around them.
And don't get off by saying I don't know what I'm talking about. I grew up in a smoker family, being the only non-smoker.
My health IS affected by that.
Get off your high horse, it's bloody infuriating.
Sanctimonious smokers are still not as bad as sanctimonious ex smokers.
I don't want to breathe in others smoke, like I used to have to if I wanted a pint, perhaps the smokers would like to inhale my farts when I have had a curry and dried apricots! (Trust me no one would like that! Even I don't)
My view let them smoke and let the NHS pick up the tab, or we could get into a discussion about joggers wasting NHS resources when they trip over or spontaneously die, or fat people, thin people, junkies, people who drive fast, drinkers, sports people, coffee drinkers, people who eat curry and dried apricots.....
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