It really amazes me each time I see someone smoking a cigarette. Even with all the campaigning and personal tragedies people have seen or been affected by with smoking, it persists. Recently, I read up on some new-to-me facts and wanted to spill some of my thoughts on smoking along with them!
My grandparents have been smoking almost their entire lives. As children, my twin and I would hide my grandpa's cigarettes from him (my grandma only smoked two cigarettes at night, and he was a half a pack/day smoker) and I remembered telling him that D.A.R.E. said we shouldn't smoke. Did you guys have D.A.R.E. in your elementary/middle schools? That was a great program. My sister and I were lucky to have always against smoking and never picked up the habit from them.
Well, Four years ago my grandpa was diagnosed with lung cancer, and after removing a lung and having a short remission, got struck again. One year and chemo later, the lung cancer was gone, but now has stomach cancer. These event recently caused me to get more proactive and interested in research on smoking.
Women's Health Magazine recently had a great article on what happens when you first smoke a cigarette and I wanted to rehash it out to you Healthkickers. Not because I want to be preachy, but because I never thought about what would happen with just one cigarette. Here are some clips of what they had to say:
0-10 Seconds - ...smoke passes through your mouth, leaving a faint brown film on your pearly whites. Toxic gases such as formaldehyde and ammonia immediately put your immune system on alert, causing allover inflammation.
Your body gets a jolt of energy as that nicotine hits your adrenal glands, triggering an outpouring of adrenaline that raises your blood pressure and heart rate. Your heart is unable to relax fully between beats—and you are now at a higher risk of having a stroke.
At the same time, carbon monoxide (a toxic component also found in car exhaust) from the smoke is starting to build up in your blood, limiting your body's ability to transport oxygen to your vital organs.
Via the blood-stream, nicotine hits your brain, where certain nerve cells respond by letting loose a torrent of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine.
5 Minutes - As dopamine levels quickly plummet back to normal, your body yearns for another high—even if you're not aware of it. If you frequently give in to the craving, your brain will get hooked and you'll crash into withdrawal when you try to stop smoking (some experts posit that nicotine could be just as addictive as heroin).
The cigarette smoke is gone, but your body will be mopping up toxic substances for the next six to eight hours.
Forever - The cigarette's parting gift: gooey brown tar in your lungs.
As much as I hate smoking, I don't beg people to stop. If you want to smoke fine, just know what's happening to your body and also, keep it far away from me. The statistics on second-hand smoke as much too scary for me to allow you to smoke while standing next to me.
What are your thoughts on smoking? Did you know these facts that Women's Health posted?
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Comments (58)
thank you doctor. i had completely no idea cigarettes were bad for me and that people can/do die from them.
Hypocritical for me to recommend this and smoke a single cigarette a night for relaxation, but good information to pass on.
I quit smoking for reasons UNRELATED TO HEALTH (actually it was that I spent too much time outdoors smoking that I could be working)... none of this information bothered me when I smoked, though... and none of it is anything that would prevent me from smoking in the future or anything that would motivate me to quit.
One day when I'm retired and don't NEED to spend time indoors working, I'll pick the habbit back up. I look forward to those glorious, relaxing future cigarettes.
I don't allow people to smoke around me and I absolutely refuse to patronize any business that allows smoking. It's been my personal policy since I can remember. Luckily, where I live has an indoor smoking ban, so it's not an issue. I think such a ban should be worldwide myself.
I like how in the rant she mentions that cigarettes start releasing carbon monoxide the same thing that comes out your CAR EXHAUST ( and numerous other things), yet you never hear any these people that complain about people smoking near them, yet they never say anything about the millions of cars, factories, and other machinery that pumps all that stuff into the air in a way more concentrated way.
I have never smoked nor will I ever.
@StatelessPilot@revelife - I feel exactly the same way!! ALOT of my family members are smokers & I was exposed to it forever & I totally think this is why I'm the ONLY person in my family with asthma, a thing my mom loves to belittle. BOTH of my grandfathers smoked & have congestive heart failure (one has since passed away). I love them both but that habit ruined their lives. My mom refuses to quit even knowing that & the fact that she has conditions that can significantly improve (if not disappear completely) if she quits. Some people are just hard headed. I just pray I dont pay the price in the future for someone else's smoking because I too never touched one & never will.
I would have recommended your comment but you dont allow that but I wanted you to know it was awesome & I agree! Dont get me wrong though, I know not all smokers are mutant beasts. I've met some very considerate ones that will move or even wait until you leave to smoke. I hate the ones that light up not caring about others & leave their butts on the floor. I once saw a couple WALK AWAY from their baby carriage to smoke. Being the nice person I am, I stayed pretending to read across the courtyard to make sure the baby wasnt kidnapped. I was tempted to call the police.
@blondiedeam@xanga - Way to be sarcastic for no reason. It's an interesting post detailing the first few minutes of a smoke, differing from ad campaigns that direct people not to smoke cigarettes.
Anyway, in response to the post, I didn't know the details about the first few minutes. I am sorry to hear about your grandfather. My mom made the poor decision to smoke since age 11, and at 54, she died from it. I've always hated it, thought there were better ways to feel good (you know, without polluting the air around you, unfortunate for others). It tugged at my heart in a bad way to read the gritty details of these highlights, thinking about these exact occurrences happening to my mother's body. What a shitty way to go.
@blondiedeam@xanga - Wow way to be a rude bitch. I'm sure most people reading this didn't know what happens after a few seconds or minutes.
once smokers get bronchitis/emphysema, then they'll wish they never took breathing for granted. I got sick from breathing in second hand smoke and had an allergic reaction, so I coughed nearly nonstop for over a month and suffered from insomnia because I couldn't sleep due to the coughing. I felt like I couldn't breathe and had episodes of coughing until my face turned red due to lack of oxygen. I tried all types of cough syrup and natural remedies, nothing really relieved the coughing, I just had to keep coughing up the phlegm and endure it until it clears on its own. I never smoked and never will. I won't ever date smokers.
I know what it does. I smoke when I am stressed. I have kicked the habit twice but when I get stressed it becomes overwhelming. Now I havent smoked since May, am back running everyweek and am finally seeing my weight go down.
I think maybe this post was a little to patronizing/anti-smoking. I would have listed these facts in an objective way and allowed the audience to come up with an opinion on their own. But hey, thats just me, and to be fair this is an online blog, not the Times :P
Yes, and that's why I ask my boyfriend to consider stopping daily and that's why I am no where near him when he does it. I know he won't stop until he's ready but my love for him and need to safeguard his health just keeps me asking.
I smoked clove cigarettes over the 4th of July weekend, and I smoke them maybe once a year, around this time, since they're illegal otherwise and it's the only time I can buy them (at Summerfest; I'm from Milwaukee, WI). No, I don't truly care that they're harmful because they taste good and I like how they burn my tongue when I inhale. Besides, cancer runs on my dad's side of the family, so my death is inevitable.
I have never smoked, my dad smokes we wished he stopped, his parents smoked (his mum, his dad smoked a pipe, but gave it up, both are no longer with us), on his side of the family, most of them smoke (my uncles, my cousins who are in their 30s, I think that their kids might smoke when their older enough to do so etc)
I'd be interested to see a comparison to Cigars.
I think it's funny that people smoke w/o caring how it is killing them. It's like giving nicotine free access to destroy your body. Hey I do not care about dying how about kill me? It's interesting how something so small can do so much major damage.
I wouldn't date any smokers at all no matter who they are as a person.
However smokers who are trying to quit you have my FULL RESPECT. You can quit and stop the damage tobacco has already done to your body. You are a strong person; you do not need cigarettes to continue to live.
Just quit and never look back.
You will thank yourself a million times over.
And more.
@millionofstars@xanga - I couldnt find the full comment you left towards me, but I will respond to what you wrote (and I did see):
I used to smoke a pack a day when I was deployed to Iraq, but quit cold turkey. The stress is what makes me crave a cigarette. Not justifying my reasoning, but I am now attending school full time now, and see the single cigarette as a reward for another day of bull crap. Yes, I am fully aware the effects of what tobacco does for the body. Hell, I am in the process of returning to the healthcare field, and I know it isnt good for me. I also know most of us do not eat as healthy as we should, and Im pretty sure drinking alcohol isnt good for me either... point is, I am capable of making the choice to cut back significantly. I applauded this entry, because I believe it may help someone else in making their choice to quit. Is that a fair assessment?@Diary_of_a_fatman@xanga - Well I agree people find ways to deal with stress, and some people turn to cigarettes. I understand that need to minimize any hardness people have in their lives. Though I wish people will find healthier ways to push those feelings away.
As for me I workout, write songs, talk with friends, and yes munch on junk food. I know junk food can harm me yet I still indulge in it.
Though with junk food it is not as hurtful as second hand smoking is. I knew some people who have died as a result of family members smoking. So you can see why I am so upset.
I do applaud people who are trying to smoke; I know it is extremely difficult as the addiction grabs you back. But quitters you are much more powerful than a tiny wrapped paper is. Toss it in the trash and throw the trash far away. Or ask someone to throw the trash away for you. Do not ask where the trash is. Take a walk. A long walk. Drink water, talk to someone, breathe deeply. Bask in those deep breaths. Take several more. Those deep breaths will allow you to continue breathing even more, even longer.
Yes I do respect people who are quitting. They are doing the right thing. On the right path to freedom.
To a longer life.
You all can do it. We all can do it. We can.
I don't really understand how you spew a bunch of the same jargon, offering nothing all that "real," and then at the end, disclaim it by saying, "As much as I hate smoking, I don't beg people to stop. If you want to smoke fine, just know what's happening to your body and also, keep it far away from me."
Then what was the point of writing this? I smoke, and I smoke a lot, and I would highly, highly doubt that anyone who's ever lit a cigarette was not fully conscious of the negative short and long-term side effects.
NEXT.
Mm, I love gooey brown tar. Also, secondhand smoke statistics are wildly exaggerated. Still, I'm a nice smoker and put it out when someone near me asks and always blow smoke downwind of other people.
Just let me smoke in the fucking park, goddamnit, or I'll start huffing in your face.
@x_damaged_yet_unbroken_x@xanga - I agree with you. Cancer runs on both sides of my families, I am likely going to get it because of genetics one way or another. Plus if you can't live enjoying the things you like, then it's not really worth living.
... Plus I'd hate to state the obvious, no one on this planet has lived forever, so why not enjoy something even if it is bad for you?... You're really only speeding up the inevitable it seems.
Time for a cig break.
I miss smoking. I quit because I had to get an extensive surgery that would leave me in the hospital for almost two weeks. I also was unable to smoke afterwards because of the risks of not healing properly.
I tried smoking when I was all healed but, the prices sky rocketed, and they tasted really nasty. :( I wish they didn't though, because now that summer is here, and I'm sitting outside more with friends and family, I want to smoke more. =\
I guess I'm happy because I'm not wasting the money, and I certainly feel somewhat healthier but.. I dunno. -.-
wish this would get me to quit. i guess i'm too self destructive.