World No Tobacco Day – 7 Reasons to Quit Smoking Today

Cancer

Tobacco usage contributes to 30% of all cancers in adults in India. This is especially important given the fact that cancer is the cause of 6% of all adult deaths in our country. Struggling to quit the habit? Here are 6 more reasons why you should quit smoking today!

Smoking Can Dull Your Sense of Smell

Smoking cigarettes can seriously dull your olfactory senses and affect your sense of smell. Smokers who quit smoking will begin to discover their food tastes drastically better as they regain their lost sense of smell.

Smoking Adds Years to Your Age

Smoking can age you beyond your years. Whether its spots on your face due to cigarette toxins to wrinkles on your skin due to lack of oxygen to your skin’s tissues. Smoking can seriously age you by interfering with your body’s biomedical processes.

Smoking Can Cause Impotence

Smoking can cause impotence in men by interfering with blood cell dilation- an essential step in the process of building an erection. Long-term smoking is especially dangerous as it can completely cut off blood supply to your genitalia and cause irreversible impotence.

Smoking Can Make You Susceptible to Infections

Smoking can make you sicker, literally. Our respiratory tracts are lined with little hairs called cilium that protect us from infection. Cigarette smoking can paralyze this defence mechanism and leave smokers vulnerable to viral flu, colds and other bacterial infections.

Smoking Can Endanger Your Friends and Family

Cigarette smoke can not just endanger you but also affect your family and friends. Second-hand smoke contains more than 4000 deadly toxins and chemicals that can increase the risk factors for heart disease, stroke and lung cancer in adults and children.

Impact on Physical Activity

Smoking can put an undue strain on your lungs and heart. This can hamper your ability to play sports or workout in the gym. Smoking along with a sedentary lifestyle can also become a risk factor for lifestyle diseases like hypertension.

Smoking Causes Heartburn

Chain smoking can also increase your chances of developing issues like Acid reflux/ Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This can cause the acid from your stomach to leak upward into your food pipe and cause that burning feeling in your chest (heartburn).

Medanta Medical Team