1ST CITY CLINICAL HOSPITAL

Tobacco smoking is currently the most common and, perhaps, one of the most harmful habits all over the world, including in Belarus.

Every year, about 4 million people die worldwide from smoking-related diseases; in Belarus this figure exceeds 15.5 thousand people.

According to experts, more than half of the adult population in our country smokes, and there remains a steady trend towards the spread of smoking among women and adolescents.

Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals, most of which poison the human body. The main ones are: nicotine, carbon monoxide (CO), tobacco tar, tobacco isotopes, etc. Scientists have calculated that air pollution from tobacco smoke is 4.25 times higher than pollution from car exhaust gases.

What happens during the combustion of tobacco products (cigarettes, cigarettes, cigars, tobacco for smoking pipes), i.e. while smoking? As you know, this produces tobacco smoke. According to modern data, it contains about 4,000 different chemicals. It is important to emphasize that the bulk of tobacco smoke is released during a smoker's puff, when 35-40% of the cigarette tobacco is burned. Hence, the harm of smoking with frequent and prolonged puffs is obvious.

Let's return to those harmful substances that appear with tobacco smoke. As it became known, the main health hazards are posed by components of tobacco smoke such as tar, carbon monoxide, and nicotine.

Cigarette tar is primarily composed of aromatic hydrocarbons, many of which are known carcinogens. Carbon monoxide has a toxic effect on the human body. In the smoke of 1 cigarette without a filter, its amount is 10-23 mg. By binding to hemoglobin in the blood to form methemoglobin, carbon monoxide thereby reduces the amount of oxygen supplied to the heart muscle and also increases blood viscosity. When 1 unfiltered cigarette is burned, nicotine is released in the amount of 1.0-2.5 mg. Absorbed into the blood, nicotine causes numerous pharmacological effects, including an increase in blood pressure and an increase in heart rate, vasospasm, leading to a deterioration in the blood supply to organs and tissues, an increase in the concentration of free fatty acids, adrenaline, and stimulation of the central nervous system. Stimulation of the central nervous system is manifested by a surge of energy, a lift in mood, a decrease in fatigue, and a feeling of comfort. This is one of the reasons for addiction to smoking.

70% of people who start smoking as teenagers continue to smoke for 40 years.

Nicotine is not a carcinogenic compound, but nitrosamines are formed from it: butanone, butanal, nornicotine. Nornicotine and butanone are the most powerful carcinogens contained in tobacco smoke. Experiments on laboratory animals have shown their role in the occurrence of carcinomas of the upper respiratory tract and lungs.

A person who smokes at least one cigarette (cigarette) per day is considered a smoker.

Despite the seemingly fairly good awareness of the population about the harmful effects of smoking on health, this problem continues to remain one of the most important. In virtually all countries, between one quarter and three quarters of men smoke. Women generally smoke less than men, but an increasing number of them are now taking up the habit.

Smoking is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases such as:

1. Cardiac ischemia
2. Atherosclerosis
3. Obliterating diseases of the arteries of the lower extremities (90% of people with this pathology are smokers).

Nicotine increases the tone of the vascular system, i.e. vasoconstriction occurs and blood flow slows down. The spasm lasts approximately 20 minutes. When smoking one cigarette, the pulse increases by 15-18 beats per minute, and blood pressure increases by an average of 10 mm Hg. Consequently, a smoker’s heart contracts 12-15 thousand times more during the day than a non-smoker’s, and therefore wears out quickly. Vascular spasms contribute to the development of coronary heart disease, as well as the development of obliterating endarteritis of the lower extremities, which ultimately leads to gangrene and amputation.

The narrowing of blood vessels leads to increased blood pressure and deterioration of blood supply to the heart. Therefore, myocardial infarction is 12 times more common in smokers than in non-smokers.

The contribution of smoking to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases is due to the presenceAs a result of their influence, the profile of lipoproteins in the blood serum is disrupted in a direction that promotes the development of atherosclerosis, and platelet aggregation (sticking together) increases.

Recently, the direct damaging effect of smoking on the vascular endothelium has been proven. As a result, the permeability of the endothelium to cholesterol and lipoproteins increases, which contributes to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques with an increased risk of thrombogenic complications.

It is clear that with arterial hypertension, when the blood supply to vital organs is impaired, smoking aggravates existing disorders, which leads to the progression of the disease and various complications. Therefore, effective treatment requires mandatory smoking cessation .

The easiest time to quit smoking is in the spring. At home and at work, you need to hide everything that reminds you of smoking: cigarettes, matches, lighters, ashtrays, etc. It is also very important to warn your relatives, friends, and colleagues that you have decided to finally break with tobacco.

To overcome the withdrawal syndrome that may occur in a long-time smoker, you can use:

1. Polyphepan (a natural polymer of plant origin, 5-10 times more effective than activated carbon, is a powerful detoxifying agent).
2. Calcium pangamate (vit. B 15 ) - 50 mg. Prescribed 1 tablet 3-4 times a day for 1 month. After a two-month break, repeat taking the vitamin. There are 3 such courses in total.
3. Recipe from traditional medicine. Pour 1 tablespoon of eucalyptus leaves into 0.5 liters of boiling water, leave for 1 hour, add 1 tablespoon of honey. Take 1/4 cup 3 times a day before meals. The course of treatment is 30 days.
4. GRDT (hypoxic relaxation breathing training) according to the methodology proposed in our lessons. We also recommend doing them as an alternative to a smoke break.

If attempts to quit smoking are unsuccessful, it is advisable to consult a specialist. Some progress has been made in the treatment of tobacco addiction (smoking). Reflexology, which involves influencing biologically active points of the auricle, is quite effective. It is now recognized that the auricle, with its topographic map of projection points and zones, is the most important organ of the human body, which can serve for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Stimulation of acupuncture points of the auricle can be carried out with metal needles, electric current, or low-intensity laser.

“A person can live to be a hundred years old. We ourselves, through our intemperance, through our ugly treatment of our own body, reduce this normal period to a much smaller figure.”

I.P. Pavlov