4000-killer-chemicals-inside-tobacco-smoke

Many Nigerians still doubt the ultimate price  to pay for smoking: Death.  The perception about smoking may not be unconnected with the common saying among smokers, “It is a matter of taking a bottle of Soda water to clear the system”
This has been a long standing belief among smokers. Unfortunately, Soda is not an escape route as the scary truth is that  the drink  is just as bad as smoking a cigarette.   Worse still, studies have shown that a daily Soda habit can age your immune cells by two years.   Soda has also been linked to rising rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases. But why is smoking a killer habit? According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, about  six million people die from tobacco consumption annually. Further breaking the deaths down, according to WHO, whereas five million die from direct consumption, 600,000 non-smokers die from exposure to second-hand smoke also known as passive smoking. Second-hand smoke is the smoke that fills restaurants, offices or other enclosed spaces where people burn tobacco products such as cigarettes, bidis and water-pipes. There are more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, of which at least 250 are known to be harmful and more than 50 are known to cause cancer. Unfortunately, smoking of cigarette and India hemp is  common place among young adults, and  even  secondary school students across  the country. Hospital statistics have shown a rise in cases of smoking-related  ailments  such as kidney diseases and  cancer, among others. It is also an established fact that smoking has been found to harm  virtually every organ in the body and diminishes  overall health. Smoking is a leading cause. It causes cancer of the lungs, esophagus, larynx, mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, liver, pancreas, stomach, cervix, colon and rectum, as well as acute myeloid leukemia. A  renown  cardiologist, Dr. Kingsley Akinroye, said  tobacco smoking  is harmful as it affects almost every organ in the body, hence the need for people to be educated on the dangers of smoking. According to him, tobacco smoking causes heart diseases, stroke, aortic aneurysm chronic obstructive pulmonary disease chronic bronchitis and emphysema, diabetes, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, age related macular degeneration,  cataract, and worsens asthma symptoms in adult.