Smoking: The risk of the unconscious (+ Photos and computer graphics)

In collaboration with Chavelys Téllez Castañer, journalism student

María is 64 years old. Enjoy a full life. Everyone in the city knows her, and always emphasizes her values ​​of solidarity, strength and her way of fighting for her family. This is, quite simply, a spectacular woman.

Today, Maria is facing a serious problem. His health is in danger because of his addiction to smoking. How did it start? On this account: "I started smoking hidden, since I was very young.I do not remember exactly.I only know that already in high school vice began to grow.I was born in a smoking house, so the cigar was always within reach. "Smoking was very common to me."

For many, like Maria, misinformation was one of the causes that caused them to succumb in the world. dangerous abyss of tobacco. When he learned the risk he was exposed to, it was too late. "In my day, there was no research on the danger that smoking meant.Today, it is normal to find anti-smoking propaganda in infinite places.I was just a little girl curious, so I continued, and I went on and on over the years with the development I knew the damage that the cigarette did and beyond I lived them and I saw them "

For her the consequences of smoking went beyond her own health, and extended to her family The loss of her sister, who, having been a smoker all her life, died of her own death. lung cancer, is painful but true

"My sister died of cancer in terrible conditions. So many years to breathe the smoke of their environment and smoking has finally pbaded the bill to their lungs. I was at his expense until the last moment. I have experienced all the painful process. All that is suffered is impressive. "

Maria 's story may be the same as that of thousands of other Cubans who have made the decision to accept such a dangerous risk.If she is practiced since youth, she can tragic ends.

Teens smoke more than in the past!

Juvenile smoking is growing day by day, red lightnings of ashes invade the city at night, and those who hold the light between their fingers vary between 13 and 25 years. Cuba, with a 24% prevalence of smoking among its population – increasing among adolescents – ranks third with the highest dependency rate in Latin America, according to data from the Ministry of Health

half of the members of Cuban families are exposed to cigarette smoke: 55% of children, 51% of pregnant women and 60% of adolescents are subjected to this pollutant, which places Cuba

According to data from the World Lung Foundation and the American Cancer Society, the consumption of young women is 18.1%, or more than 5.8% of adult women, approximately, a ratio of three to a

The data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) are even more alarming. They show that the earlier you start smoking, the more likely you are to become addicted. Three out of five young people who try tobacco will become addicted to nicotine in adulthood and half of them will die prematurely.

Smoking is not just an unpleasant habit, it goes beyond that. It's harmful and expensive.

The role of death

There is more than evidence that youth smoking is on the rise, but how does it work? On this, Ana Mayra Vasallo Hernández, a doctor and cardiology specialist, explains that "the harm of cigarettes can seriously affect health, and millions of professionals spend their lives researching the ills they cause to" cure "them. many see their patients die. "

"A smoker is twice as likely to suffer from other illnesses than non-smokers The risk increases with the number of cigarettes consumed per day

" With a puff of smoke, the smoker inhales a small amount of carbon monoxide that is lethal.The presence of this gas (the same as cars expel) reduces the amount of blood from the bloodstream, with which the arterial walls become more vulnerable to any irritation and thus constitutes the first cardiovascular disease phase such as coronary arthropathy, acute myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmias, aortic aneurysm, worsening of stress angina, peripheral arteriosclerosis, thromboangiitis obliterans, cerebrovascular disease, arterial hypertension and sudden death. "

Smoking is a small lethal dose of harmful substances. Chemically composed of nicotine (stimulating factor and cause of physical dependence that causes tobacco), tar (carcinogenic substances inhaled by the smoker and his entourage), carbon monoxide (adheres to hemoglobin, impedes the oxygenation of the body) and toxic irritant components (responsible for irritation of the respiratory system).

This bad cause is getting worse throughout the body. It's as addictive as dangerous. The habit of smoking can lead to other diseases such as peptic ulcers, cancer of the oral cavity, esophagus, bladder and other organs.

Smoking kills about three million people a year. If current trends continue, by 2030, 10 million people will die each year and half will come from developing countries.

According to Dr. Ana Mayra, "tobacco is one of the modifiable risk factors in ischemic heart disease, as it doubles the risk of heart attacks and strokes such as emboli and heart disease. The cigarette is responsible for respiratory diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

"Today, smoking is the leading cause of cancer of the oral mucosa, larynx and lungs. the trachea and is also responsible for more than 90% of lung cancer and worldwide guilty of 30% of all cancers. Because of its smoke causes so-called pbadive smokers (especially children) serious health problems, "concludes Vasallo Hernandez.

The cigar in hand, the new fashion?

For this generation the youth smoking is a completely normal phenomenon Although we see it continuously, this behavior is not rejected and many accept it.But the opinion of some young Matanceros gives us their opinion on the subject

José Carlos, a young student of the university. Matanzas University, is one of the so-called social smokers. "" Smokes when it's convenient. "I smoke casually, not because others do it, but because I view it as a way different to entertain me. The few times I do it causes me an effect similar to alcohol. It's a different experience. I do not find it addictive or necessary.

"I think everyone lives as he wants and practices what he wants, but I think it's wrong to become addicted." The majority of young people who decide to smoke so that They end up becoming addicts start as a game, a fashion.Everyone does not have the opportunity to smoke and knows how to control themselves. "

Lázaro, on the contrary, has been smoking since age 15, while he was an intern at IPVCE Carlos Marx. "In the Vocational, almost everyone was smoking, I was curious and I wanted to try it.This was not good, but it amused me for a while." smokes when I want it, but I do not consider myself dependent, because I do not do it on weekends and at this time I do not feel anxious about the cigar My mother knows that I do it, but I do not I do not like to smoke in front of her, I only do it at school. "

Of the teens and young people interviewed, few are those who, like Omar's case, accept his addiction: "I have been smoking since the age of fifteen, while I was in grade 9. My mother smokes and I grew up with the cigar next to her, but this is not the reason for the beginning of my addiction.I started because my "piquete" wanted to try it, it was the new trend.I consider myself an evil person even though I know of all the damage that's going on. she's causing it, I do not think at this point in my life I'm a danger. "

" At my age and in an environment like the university, everyone can have his vice. We can do what we want. On the contrary, if they are minors such as secondary and pre-university, they do it for fashion. Everyone uses the cigar for the purpose that he wants. It's like clothes. I like it because I feel good and it takes away my stress. "

For Lisdiel, who says that he does not smoke with a pretty nasty smile to show that's the case, it's important that the cigar brand influences the young: Most smoke Hollywood, but it will never be the same as being at a party smoking a Lucky Strike or a Cohiba instead of a Criollo.It is always preferred to the more expensive. "

And the fault. .. who has it?

There are innumerable problems that the current world is going through. Among them, one of the most damaging is the marketing and use of drugs, recognized as the most profitable illicit activity in the world. This scourge has become today a growing global threat generating violence, alienation, illegalities, accidents, illnesses and deaths.

% of the world population over 15 years.

In our country, smoking is a major risk factor in morbidity and mortality. According to Minsap statistics, the leading causes of death in the country are lifestyle-related and smoking is a practice identified as one of the most important risk factors.

with slight variations, they appear among the first places in the general mortality, diseases preventable to a high degree, if the factors that favor them are controlled, among them this dependence is distinguished

The greatest consumption of Teenagers explain, in part, the tobacco industry has directed all its advertising work towards young people. In this sense, the advertising campaign carried out through the music industry stands out from the others.

There are few fashionable video clips in which the cigar does not say present. For this purpose, the entire cultural industry induces to try drugs. Under this influence, the adolescent public takes as a reference and is able to adopt these attitudes as his own.

According to Jonathan Foulds, professor of clinical psychology at Penn State University, "the most common effect reported by smokers is the relief of uncomfortable moods that make them tense, irritable or sad, for example. , it is likely that the smoker's motivation is affected by the belief that the smoker has the ability to provide this type of beneficial psychological effects, compared to the perceived disadvantages of habit. "

This decision is influenced not only by age, but also by the family. A teenager who grows up in a smoker's house automatically becomes a pbadive smoker. In addition, you will see this bad habit as a normal phenomenon, so try sooner or later to try it, which will not be difficult as long as you have it on hand. It is important for parents to talk to their children about the risks of this behavior.

Another important aspect of smoker training concerns schools, especially scholarships. In these spaces, the young man ends up practicing this unpleasant habit, mainly due to three fundamental factors.

The first, seeing everyone smoke, can arouse their curiosity and be attracted by the cigarette. The second, like everyone else, seeks to be part of the group and begins to do so not to exclude it, which is what results in a social smoker. And third, who decides to adopt this fashionable behavior, is part of the "pint".

In these spaces is needed an increase in anti-smoking work by teachers, as well as good public campaigns, interest circles and theme-based lectures.

Many are the culprits in the race to death that causes gray smoke. At the same time, there are also many people struggling between good and bad. Tobacco is a global danger. but it's a very personal decision to become addicted.

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