Warning! Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous to your Health!

Article from the Springhill Group

Did you know that the leading cause of premature death in the United States is no other than cigarettes?  A preventable death but it claims almost half a million lives each year.  To the extent that the government required larger and more prominent warnings on cigarette packaging and advertisements as part of the strategy to help consumers quit smoking and prevent young people from starting.  But despite of this it seems like tobacco users are not conscious about it.

The effects of cigarette smoking to human health are really serious and in fact deadly.  There are approximately 4000 chemicals that are present in the chemical composition of cigarette and hundreds of which are toxic.

 Smoking effects on the human body are destructive and widespread.  The ingredients in cigarette affect everything from the internal functioning of the organs and target the efficiency of the body’s immune system.  Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body. Smoking causes many diseases and reduces the health of smokers in general.

Here are some facts cigarette smoking can cause you.  Toxic ingredients in cigarette smoke travel throughout the body, causing damage in several different ways.    Carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells, preventing affected cells from carrying a full load of oxygen.  Cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) in tobacco smoke damage important genes that control the growth of cells, causing them to grow abnormally or to reproduce too rapidly.  The carcinogen benzo(a)pyrene binds to cells in the airways and major organs of smokers.  Smoking affects the function of the immune system and may increase the risk for respiratory and other infections.  There are several likely ways that cigarette smoke does its damage.  One is oxidative stress that mutates DNA, promotes atherosclerosis, and leads to chronic lung injury.  Oxidative stress is thought to be the general mechanism behind the aging process, contributing to the development of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and COPD.  The body produces antioxidants to help repair damaged cells.  Smokers have lower levels of antioxidants in their blood than do nonsmokers.  Smoking is associated with higher levels of chronic inflammation, another damaging process that may result in oxidative stress.  Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds after smoke is inhaled.  It has been found in every part of the body and in breast milk.

Due to these facts, it is now known that cigarette smoking is deadly.  An estimated 443, 000 deaths, or nearly one of every five years, each year has been noted in United States alone.   It is more than the deaths caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.   Smoking causes an estimated 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women.  An estimated 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease are caused by smoking.

This is very bothering.  That is just some of the diseases that one can get from cigarette smoking.  Smoking can also increased heart heath risks, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and cancer not to mention infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Springhill Group: Happiness Starts at Being Healthy

 http://springhillmedgroup.com/2012/11/springhill-group-happiness-starts-at-being-healthy/

It is important to monitor your health and start young but for most people out there who hold back because of their age, it is never too late to change your lifestyle and start living a healthy life. It has been a genre that if you wanted to get fit and healthy you must go to the gym and slog yourself to maintain your fitness. Sure it can help you but did you know that just by changing your general daily activity can particularly improve your health and energy?

Keeping healthy and staying fit is quite a challenge but will definitely make a big change in your emotional wellbeing, ease physical symptoms, lighten your loads and can make you see brighter outlook of life.

Here are tips on how to stay healthy with lesser effort:

Did you know that walking can be a great form of exercise? Yes, as simple as walking can make you healthier.

• Lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol)
• Raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol)
• Lower your blood pressure
• Reduce your risk of or manage type 2 diabetes
• Manage your weight
• Improve your mood
• Stay strong and fit
• Provides many of the same benefits as more vigorous forms of exercise, but with less chance of injury
• Fits into any lifestyle, so you're more likely to do it regularly and stick with it
• Doesn't require special equipment, apart from a pair of supportive shoes
• You don't need special facilities, its FREE
• You can combine it with other activities like walking your dog.

After a few weeks or so, you will realize that you fell lighter and stress-free. Your energy levels increase, you do not get to tire easily.

Your daily habits can affect your health entirely as well. As you adapt to every changes in your daily activities you can notice many differences in your energy level.

· If your workplace is too far for walking and you need a means of transportation yet is too near to drive, you can use your bicycle instead.

· Takes stairs instead of the lift or escalators.

· Hand carry your groceries instead of using a trolley.

· Walk your dog in the afternoon.

· Do physical activities instead of turning into television and computers if bored.


Those are just examples of what you can do; maintain the habit and you will see changes in no time. Do not be impatient, as they say “no pain, no glory”.

Shave off calories! Body weight depends on a balance ‘calories in’ and ‘calories out’. Calories are another name for the energy content of food and drinks. Weight increases if these calories intake are higher than the calories that are being burned by your body. Calories are burned through the use of that energy. You must take off 600 calories energy intake everyday. Recommended target intake of calories for men is 1,900 and 1,300 for women. Avoid eating high-fat foods and alcoholic beverages they are high in calories. Eat variety of foods and avoid saturated fats.

Many factors are affecting your health for some reason there are factors you cannot change. But you can do something about your lifestyle and food intake. And as important as your diet and exercise are, your mind set, your mood and outlook in life play a big part for you to become a healthier you.