SMOKERS: Suicidal Killers

By: Mujuthaba

An experience I had on Thursday blinked the light-bulb over my head on choosing the subject. It was pouring and quite windy on the day and I made the mistake of taking the bus, instead of taking the usual half-an-hour walk to my apartment from the train station. It wasn’t even rush hour, but seemed like whole of Wellington decided to take a ride on the bus to evade the winter elements.

So here I was, sitting down on a cramped bus, keeping my own space as the bus filled to a bound of being claustrophobic. It all went off my league of nostril tolerance when I smelled cigarette smoke. It is prohibited to smoke in public transports, but a commuter just climbed onboard the crowded bus after throwing down his/her half puffed cigarette. After experiencing the poison trapped grueling tin box ride for ten minutes, I just realized that a smoker has ruined my health conscious lifestyle once again.

Smoking for me is in no less cooler than sucking your thumb in public. At least this is a much safer way of wading off ones so called anxiety. Everyday we are exposed to second hand smoke; on the streets, at work and even at home. Avoiding smoking cigarettes doesn’t make us safe from its destructive affects; but we should avoid gatherings where smokers are active.

Research shows that there are about 4000 different chemical agents in smoke, which affect almost every bit of the body, in a bad way of course. Obstruction of oxygen flow to the lungs and delivery of the oxygen to working muscles are one of the initial and acute effects of cigarette smoke. Poisons such as carbon-monoxide, acetone, benzene, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia and toluene are few that are abundantly passed into our body from the smoke.

Second hand smokers are exposed to various smoke related diseases such as lung cancer, respiratory illnesses, heart diseases, stroke and various other cancers. The close relationship between cigarette smoke and cancer is due to the presence of 60 different carcinogens (or chemicals that promote cancer) in the smoke of a burning cigarette. Smoking outside the house, or the car isn’t going to protect the residents or passengers from the poisonous smoke. Research shows that the affect of the smoke will linger in the house and the car when you get in and start breathing. Avoiding the harm of the smoke is hard when you have people close to you who smoke.

If we think in an exercise science view on smokers, the facts aren’t new. Smokers, either healthy or non-healthy, have reportedly low fitness levels due to the deficient oxygen carrying and exchange capability. The cardio-respiratory fitness levels of second hand smokers, who are exposed to smoke on numerous occasions, are also shown to have low fitness results. Tar is the most popular agent in smoke that is blamed for the acute decrease in fitness levels among smokers. This destroys the cilia of the respiratory tract and remains in the lung obstructing the gaseous exchange. Cigarette smoking and fitness never come hand in hand. There is no reason to be ignorant of the fact that while smoking cigarettes we cannot lead a perfectly healthy life.

It is obvious and quite saddening to know that there is an increase in smokers and smoke related deaths worldwide. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is the reason to start puffing the ‘cancer stick’. It is no excuse to say that ‘I was dumb and young so had to take up smoking to be accepted in the crowd’. It doesn’t make you look cool; but ignorant and disgustingly desperate. Smoking is not worth the expenditure of time, money, fitness, health and let alone risking your loved ones.

In fact, the cigarette can be the only thing in the way of you and a perfect life, just think about it.