On May 31, the whole world once again celebrates No Tobacco Day. In Nizhny Novgorod, doctors supported this action most actively, because, unlike us, they face the dire consequences of a thoughtless attitude to their health every day.
Girls are reluctant to quit smoking
The four horsemen of the apocalypse
“Today the problem of non-infectious diseases is coming to the fore: cardiovascular, oncological, diabetes mellitus and diseases of the pulmonary system,” said Alexei Balavin, chief physician of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Center for Medical Prevention. – They are the cause of 80% of all deaths. Alas, smoking is one of the main causes of these diseases. “
High blood pressure, high cholesterol, alcohol abuse and smoking are the four leading causes of death. Today, 25 diseases are directly related to smoking. These are lung diseases, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, etc. Smoking is especially dangerous for children, pregnant women and sick people. Moreover, passive smoking, when someone smokes next to us, is no less dangerous than active smoking. By being near a smoker, we absorb 50% of these “exhaust” gases, while the smoker himself absorbs only 25%.
If a person smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day, then there is a mental dependence (irritability, irascibility, lethargy, fatigue, etc.), and 20-30 cigarettes a day is already a physical addiction, when not only the psyche, but also the body suffers (heaviness in the head, suction in the stomach, cough, etc.). In the treatment of tobacco addiction, an integrated approach is important: medications and psychotherapy, and reflexology. It is necessary to go through 8-10 sessions. If you use only a single method, the addiction will recur over time.
As practice shows, female smoking, like alcoholism, is much more difficult to treat. According to the survey, 32% of men want to quit smoking, 30% said they can or may not smoke, and only 34% strongly do not want to quit. As for women, only 5% are motivated to quit smoking. The rest are categorically not going to do this.
in 2012, 1000 residents of Nizhny Novgorod turned to doctors to quit smoking, in 2013 – already 1600
Parents who smoke, especially if the mother smokes in the early stages of pregnancy, is at risk of having a disabled child. Smoking in the early stages of pregnancy greatly increases the risk of having children with pathology of the upper jaw, namely, with the so-called “cleft lip” and “cleft palate”. Smokers not only shorten their lives, but also look 10 years older than their passport age. So female smokers trying to keep youthful, resorting to various means of rejuvenation, make these attempts pointless.
“Smokers who have decided to quit tobacco are also helped in the Zdorovye centers,” said Elena Yurievna Safieva, head of the health center at Hospital No. 40 of the Avtozavodsky District. – There are five such centers in the city: on the basis of hospitals No. 12, 33, 40, 39 and polyclinic No. 7. Any Nizhny Novgorod citizen can apply there, and not only a smoker, regardless of the area of residence and registration. Under the compulsory medical insurance policy, he will be given a comprehensive examination free of charge. We have been working for the fifth year, but not everyone knows about us. Our health centers are equipped with the most modern equipment. We carry out screening tests mainly aimed at the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. The research takes no more than an hour. Based on its results, a conversation is held with a doctor who will tell you what a person’s weaknesses are and what may lie in wait for him in the future.
For example, we examined both smokers and their family members, as well as those who are in a group where a lot of smokers. Exhaled carbon monoxide levels in passive smokers sometimes turned out to be much higher than that of smokers themselves! This causes oxygen starvation and all the ensuing consequences. That is why it is so important to remember that smoking is a disease from which not only the smoker suffers. “