On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, Dr Ashish Chauhan of Olive Hospital Nanalnagar here has appealed to the NGOs, youths and people to create awareness against smoking among the people and make the society smoking-free.
Speaking to media persons here on Wednesday, Dr Ashish Chauhan said that smoking is a habit into which one primarily gets because of mere peer pressure or the other reason where a teenager believes it’s “in thing” and fashionable when one goes around in company of friends, who do smoke. Statistics showed that about nine out of 10 tobacco users started before they were 18 years.
Smoking leads people to develop health problems like heart disease, stroke, emphysema and many types of cancer, including lung, stomach and bladder cancer. People who smoke also have an increased risk of infections like bronchitis and pneumonia. Around the world, smoking is responsible for about one out of five deaths. For men in their 30s and 40s, smoking increases the risk of erectile disfunction by about 50 per cent. The British Medical Association estimated that up to 1,20,000 men have Erectile Disfunction (ED) because of smoking, he said, adding that on an average, each cigarette shortens a smoker’s life by around 11 minutes.
Dr Chouhan said that only thing that really helps a person to avoid the problems associated with smoking is staying smoke free. Staying smoke free will give a person a whole lot more of everything–more energy, better performance, better looks, more money in his pocket and in the long run more life to live. (NSS)