"Checked out the lung nodules, how come you're still smoking."
"Nicotine doesn't cause cancer, and this lung cancer has nothing to do with cigarettes."
Uncle Su went out for a walk, and happened to run into Uncle Wang smoking a cigarette and watching people play chess.
It turned out that Uncle Wang found a small nodule in his lungs during his physical examination last month, and the shape and size of the nodule belonged to the benign category, and there was no need for immediate surgery. However, the doctor advised Uncle Wang to follow up regularly, maintain healthy living habits as much as possible in life, and quit smoking at the same time.
After returning home from the hospital, Uncle Wang also made up his mind to quit smoking for a period of time. For him, who has been smoking for many years, quitting smoking is uncomfortable. It just so happened that in the process of quitting smoking, Uncle Wang saw an article about nicotine not causing cancer.
This made Uncle Wang seem to grasp the "life-saving straw", and immediately went out to buy a cigarette after reading the article. After smoking, he became completely unburdened, and scientific research said that nicotine does not cause cancer, so what am I afraid of? So I started pumping recklessly again.
However, nicotine does not cause cancer, and cigarettes really do not cause cancer?
First, it has been "misunderstood" for many years, nicotine is not carcinogenic, but it is also harmful
Because we often say that cigarettes contain nicotine, some people subconsciously think that nicotine is the culprit of cigarette carcinogenesis, but in fact, nicotine is a common alkaloid in nature, which is found in foods such as peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants, but cigarettes are the most abundant.
It is widely present in nature, is it possible that peppers, tomatoes, eggplants and other foods also have the potential to cause cancer?
Most people have a misconception about nicotine that the substance has carcinogenic effects. In fact, the classification of carcinogens published by the International Agency for Cancer does not contain nicotine. In clinical studies on an international scale, there is also no evidence that nicotine has carcinogenic effects.
The real harm that nicotine will bring to the body is that it is highly addictive, and after nicotine is inhaled into the body, it only takes 10 to 20 seconds to reach the brain. Let the brain produce exciting and pleasant dopamine, which can become addictive after a period of time, and irregular intake of nicotine can cause people to feel strong discomfort.
This is the real harm of nicotine, and chili peppers, tomatoes and other foods contain less nicotine, so it will not be addictive.
Second, nicotine does not cause cancer, can cigarettes still be smoked?
Since nicotine does not cause cancer, does it mean that Uncle Wang's idea is correct? Can cigarettes be smoked with confidence?
Although nicotine does not have carcinogenic effects, some other substances contained in cigarettes are highly carcinogenic. According to data published by WHO, cigarettes contain at least 78 clearly carcinogens, including nitrosamines, benzopyrene, and a variety of radioactive isotopes. Long-term intake of these substances can lead to a significant increase in the risk of a variety of diseases, including respiratory diseases, malignant tumors and cardiovascular diseases.
First of all, smoking can lead to adverse effects on respiratory immune function, lung structure and lung function, which can easily lead to a variety of respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, respiratory infections and so on.
In addition, the variety of carcinogens contained in tobacco will continue to stimulate normal genes in the body, resulting in a significant increase in the risk of genetic mutations. People who smoke for a long time have a greatly increased risk of lung cancer, esophageal cancer, oral cancer, stomach cancer and other cancers.
In addition, smoking will also lead to damage to the normal function of the vascular endothelium, resulting in narrowing of the lumen of the artery, obstruction of blood flow, easy to induce atherosclerosis, inducing coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension and other cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Third, no matter how big the addiction is, these 4 times also advise you to endure
The harm caused to the body by long-term smoking is told to you, and the people who are still smoking really do not plan to quit smoking? For some people who cannot quit smoking in the short term, daily smoking must avoid these time points.
1. When taking medicine
For people with diabetes, smoking while injecting insulin can cause the body to absorb less insulin. Compared with non-smokers, the dosage of smokers needs to increase by 15 to 30% to achieve an effective amount, so long-term so easy to lead to the body to develop drug resistance, and finally lead to patients without drugs to treat.
Some patients with angina who are taking heartache, atenolol and other drugs, smoking while taking the drug will lead to a significant decrease in blood pressure concentration, and will also lead to an accelerated rate of drug excretion, so that the patient's condition will worsen.
In addition, the nicotine, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other components contained in tobacco will cause the normal metabolism of drugs to be affected, which can easily lead to drug-related damage to the kidneys and liver, which is extremely detrimental to health.
2. Get up in the morning
Many smokers wake up in the morning and the first thing they do when they open their eyes is to find a cigarette to smoke. As everyone knows, this time is very unsuitable for smoking! After a night's sleep, the air in the room will become very turbid, and smoking in this environment will cause a large number of harmful gases to be inhaled into the body, causing dizziness and other symptoms of cerebral hypoxia. And smoke will stimulate bronchial secretion of fluid, which can easily lead to the occurrence of chronic bronchitis.
3. After meals
The phrase "a cigarette after a meal, happy like a god" is also the motto of many smokers. As everyone knows, doing this will only make you see the gods faster.
After the meal, the blood circulation of the whole body will be mobilized to gather in the gastrointestinal tract to digest food, and if you smoke at this time, the harmful substances in the cigarette will be quickly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract. It is no exaggeration to say that smoking one cigarette after a meal is more harmful than smoking 10 cigarettes on a normal basis!
4. Stay up late
In the state of staying up late, the body itself is in a state of stress, and the secretion of adrenaline will also increase. Smoking in this state, the harmful substances in the cigarette will be quickly absorbed by the body, threatening cardiovascular health, easy to cause symptoms such as increased blood pressure and accelerated heart rate.
Fourth, why do you get lung cancer if you don't smoke? This reason is ignored by many people
Xiao Wu is 25 years old and a construction worker. His habits have been healthy for many years, never smoking or drinking. However, during working hours, it is often necessary to be exposed to dust and dust, and even if you wear a mask, you will inhale a lot of dust.
One day, Xiao Wu had chest tightness and vague chest pain symptoms during working hours, and he thought that there was no good rest, and he did not take it too seriously. What he did not expect was that the chest pain became more and more serious with the passage of time, and Xiao Wu had to take leave to come to the hospital for treatment. After examination, Xiao Wu was diagnosed with lung cancer.
After the diagnosis, Xiao Wu was very surprised, he never smoked, how could he be related to lung cancer?
In this regard, Zhao Baiqin, director of the Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Second Hospital of Zhejiang University, said that smoking is indeed one of the risk factors that induce the occurrence of lung cancer, but radon, environmental factors, etc. are also important reasons for the occurrence of lung cancer.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas, which will remain in the respiratory tract after inhalation to form a radioactive source, which constantly causes chronic stimulation to the lungs, which is easy to induce lung cancer in the long run; and some people who need long-term exposure to asbestos, dust and other substances in the working environment are also high-incidence groups of lung cancer. After these substances enter the body, they will continue to accumulate in the lungs, causing chronic pneumonia and even lung cancer.
For some people who need long-term exposure to high-risk substances, we must pay attention to regular examination of the lungs, and once abnormal is found, they should be treated in time, and protective measures should be taken in life.
Smoking is harmful to health and not beneficial, and some claims that smoking is harmless to health are completely rumors! For your own health, be sure to quit smoking as soon as possible!
Resources:
[1] Tumors, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, dementia, neonatal malformations... How harmful is it to pick up a cigarette? 》. Healthy China 2021-04-23
[2] "[Tobacco Control] has been "misunderstood" for many years, nicotine, which is not carcinogenic, but is harmful" . Yunnan Health 12320 2021-06-12
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