The Truth About Smoking
By Frolic Tan Lopez
PUBLISHED: JUNE 2009
Studies show that smokers tend to earn less than non-smokers because of reduced productivity. These studies state that smokers earn 4% to 11% less than their counterparts due to higher absenteeism and earlier retirement because of ill health.
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NOT SEXY
Arguably helped by its portrayal in films as a sexy habit, smoking has gained prominence among many - a bad development considering its many ill effects.
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Smokers, of course, also compromise the health of non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke.
BEATING THE HABIT
Fortunately, the government has not been entirely oblivious to the perils of smoking. Since 1995, the Department of Health (DOH) has been working with health advocates to push effective tobacco control legislation with positive results. In 2003, Republic Act No. 9211, the Tobacco Regulation Act, was enacted to regulate the sale and use of tobacco nationwide.
It is, however, the private sector that continues to take the initiative to curb smoking.
TFP’s Tan notes that in the Philippines where nicotine rehabilitation centers are rare, cold turkey is “the only way to successfully quit smoking since there is currently no available intervention that will help patients overcome the withdrawal symptoms that come with smoking cessation.”
Pharmaceutical companies have, however, produced “smoking cessation aids” such as Pfizer Consumer Healthcare’s Nicorette, a gum that helps smokers quit the habit successfully through nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). Basically, the gum changes the way a smoker gets a nicotine fix, which long-time smokers are dependent on, by providing them with nicotine without the tar, carbon monoxide and 5,000 other toxic gases that come from cigarette smoking. Once the gum is chewed, nicotine is released into the saliva that is then absorbed through the lining of the mouth.
Nicotine patches are another form of NRT, but the nicotine transfer is done through the skin (transdermal).
“Those who have successfully quit smoking know that quitting can be a huge challenge,” says Dr. Randy Cañal, Pfizer ASEAN area manager, Regulatory Affairs/Medical Research and Development. “With these products, smokers can hopefully take better control of their cigarette craving and eventually stop smoking."
According to the American Cancer Society, as early as 20 minutes after quitting smoking, a smoker’s blood pressure, pulse rate, heart rate, blood circulation and body temperature of the hands and feet return to normal. Eight hours after quitting, cigarette breath disappears as the carbon monoxide blood level drops. Within 24 hours, chances of heart attacks decrease. In 48 hours, nerve endings in the nose and the mouth start growing again, thereby enhancing the smell and taste senses as mucus from the lungs begins to clear. From three weeks to three months after quitting, the lung function increases to as much as 30%. A year after quitting, excess risk of coronary heart diseases is cut in half. And 10 years after quitting, the death rate of smokers from lung cancer is almost equivalent to that of non-smokers.
Despite all the information about the hazards of smoking, DOH’s Duque says the decision to quit the habit remains a personal one. “Anti-smokers can only do so much to help smokers quit since it is the smokers themselves who decide what to do with their habit,” he points out. “But if one is to choose between living a long and healthy life and dying young because of smoking, the choice should be a no-brainer.”
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