Thursday, August 5, 2010

When Smoking Is Said To Be An Attitude Problem

When I was in school 2 years ago, I came across this kind of thing a lot. Smoking when you're an underage teen is kind of usual nowadays. It is not hard for you to find or look for one. Sometimes, I wonder, why is this happening? I don't think that smoking is cool. You don't look cool if you have a 'burning' mouth. It is funny for sure. I think quite a number of people out there, especially girls, agree with me that smoking doesn't make you look cool. But that is not what I want to write about today. I am very sure that smoking can cause cancer and health problems. Even the government admit that smoking is dangerous and poses a threat to your health; and they even endorse it with their designation. You don't believe me? Buy a packet of cigarette and look at the side of the packet. It is written clearly, Amaran oleh Kerajaan Malaysia: Merokok membahayakan kesihatan( Warning, smoking can cause health problems: The Government of Malaysia). Rumor has it that passive smoker will be at greater risk than a normal active smoker. Well, like I said, it is just a rumor. Think, the smoke that they give out is being diluted by the surrounding air the very moment it enters the environment. But still, the threat to the surrounding, especially people and the environment remains.

People usually think that underage teen who smoke has a very bad attitude. No quality can be represented by those teenagers. But we forgot something. Another problem that is worse than the attitude is on the verge of acting. A lot of them is coming and they are attacking human. Known by many names and types, health problem is what I am talking about. I don't know why people can't see this clearly. Maybe we are too busy labelling others with a lot of dirty words and sentences, thus, we forgot that those cigarette smoke can harm us too. Proven epidemiologically that smokers are 18 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers and one-third of all cancer deaths are a direct result of cigarette smoking. Now, you're talking about attitude? Stop that and move on with a better plan. People can change how they behave but once you get a cancer, sorry, you can reverse it or try to behave in a different way. It is just too late to change. Carbon monoxide produced by an incomplete burning of a material, can bind with the red blood cell irreversibly. Meaning that once the carbon monoxide bind with your red blood cell, that's it, good bye. Wait for your new red blood cell to get a fully functioning one. This hidden data is not so obvious for our teens' eyes. Why can't the government issue a programme or an article to be published in newspapers, stating the other side of cigarette 'goodness'.

Once again, it is not cool! Proven experimentally in 1960s that tumours similar to those found in humans may develop in animals exposed to cigarette smoke. Maybe you can easily recognise the experiment, the one that use beagle or 'snoopy'. It is also identified that carcinogens have been identified in tar. One of the common carcinogen found in tar is benzpyrene. Extremely harmful and may prevent tumour suppressor gene from working, resulting in active developing of cancerous tissue. From data obtained by researchers, up to 50% of smokers may die of smoking related diseases such as emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(COPD). 98% of people with emphysema are smokers and 90% of deaths from COPD are attributed to smoking. Do I give you enough data so that you could throw away that fancy coloured cigarette pack? It is true that you will never develop any of the diseases mentioned next week or next month. It will take 20 to 30 years for any symptom to develop and tell you the universal truth about the problem that you are facing. Lung cancer for example. Once confirmed by general practitioner that you are suffering from lung cancer, that's it. No cure for that because the lung itself is as big as 2 tennis courts. Imagine tumour that spread and cover the size mentioned. You just have to wait for the next month for you to see your creator.

Seek help from your doctor. There are a lot of ways that can help you with nicotine addiction. For starter, stay away from it, it will do no harm. It will if you stay with it. It is not cool! Try to think about others. The world is not yours, you see. The world is for me and you, and that's how we are; interdependent. Stop today, tomorrow will be better for you.


This is just my opinion.
Azim Omar in 'How Student Look At It'

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