A single cigarette contains more then 4,000 injurious and toxic chemicals and in Pakistan more than 1,000 children between 6-16 years of age start smoking every day.
This was stated by Dr Fawad Kaiser, Consultant Psychiatrist while addressing the participants of a workshop titled 'If you smoke; do not exhale' organised by Shifa International Hospital here on Saturday to mark the World No Tobacco Day.
Various senior doctors, experts and medical students attended the workshop. He further said that the 4,000 most dangerous chemicals include Carbon Monoxide, Tar, Acetone, Nicotine, Arsenic, Formaldehyde, Shellac, Benzene, and Cyanide. "Arsenic is deadly poisonous and is used in insecticides, acetone used in nail polish remover and formaldehyde is used to preserve dead bodies," he maintained.
Speaking on the occasion Dr Mati-ur-Rehman, Pulmonologist, said that smoking is the biggest cause of lung cancer, heart attacks, stroke, chronic bronchitis's and emphysema's. "It doesn't just harm the smoker, but also the people around them. Tobacco smoke pollution has been classified as a known human carcinogen in the USA," he maintained.
Later other experts and doctors said that the symptoms of withdrawing smoking could cause increased appetite, tearfulness, anxiety, loss of concentration, sleep disturbance, worsened cough, light headache, sore tongue, mouth ulcers and constipation. They said that the trend of smoking is increasing among the youngsters. About 80,000 to 100,000 kids start smoking every day and that peer revealed studios show that teenagers are most influenced by tobacco advertisements.
World-wide every 8 seconds one person dies of smoking. The consumption of cigarette in the developing countries is increasing by a percent of 3.4. It is due to lack of power and psychological problems that makes, an individual, take refuge in smoking. Everyone knows that smoking is bad for health but millions cannot overcome the addiction. Tobacco in any form is dangerous to health.
It is said that non-smokers are 20 to 30 percent more prone to lung cancer, 25 percent of having cardiac arrest while 65 percent arc subject to cardiac diseases due to second-hand smoke.
In a recent research by the National Health Services of Pakistan the trend of smoking amongst men are 29 percent. While in young women the trend of smoking is increasing as 3.4 percent of the population of women is taking it up on a daily basis. Fifteen billion cigarettes are being sold daily while one million every minute.