Are you a chain smoker? Time to rethink this habit. The pandemic is going nowhere. With the rollout of vaccines, we are definitely at ease with the restrictions after being confined at home. Not to forget, the precautionary measures which must be taken into consideration to reduce the risk of lung-related infection and fatal diseases like cancer. Post covid complications are also at high rise which needs special attention and medical care.

The COVID scenario post-pandemic will increase the danger of smoking and the challenge of cancer

We are currently facing three challenges at once:

• The smoking menace
• The cancer disease
• The COVID-19 pandemic, the battle of which is still on.

It is estimated that many people die prematurely due to smoking every year due to cigarette use.

As we all prepare ourselves for a possible third wave of the pandemic, we cannot ignore the dreaded cancer disease in the world or allow millions of young people to jeopardize their futures by using cigarettes

The link between smoking use and the severity of COVID-19 needs to be understood to promote and incorporate public health measures for tobacco control into the COVID-19 prevention strategy.

Smoking increases the risk of cancer

Smoking-related cancers account for the highest number of total cancer cases in our world. The number of smoking-related cancer cases in the world was more than 27 percent during 2020, according to the International Cancer Registry Program this number will increase by 12 percent or 15.7 lakh by 2025.

People use different forms of tobacco without smoke, which is one of the leading causes of oral cancer in the world, with a high rate of 10 cases per 100,000 a year.

How does smoking cause cancer?

• All tobacco products contain cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens) and toxins, as well as an addictive substance, nicotine.
• All these substances enter the blood vessels and damage the DNA of the cells of our body. Damaged DNA can turn into a cancerous tumor.
• Many cancer surgeons come across many cancer cases every year, which cause a lot of damage to people's lives and their livelihood.

Many people suffered from oral cancer due to the use of smokeless tobacco, which resulted in death within a year of being diagnosed with the disease.

Statistics of the smoking use in teenagers

• The trend of tobacco use by teenagers in India is increasing, which is worrying.
• In the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, GATS 2016-17, this number was around 11 percent.
• The data also showed that people between the ages of 15 and 24 had started smoking at a very young age.
• 5 to 25 percent of teenagers are using tobacco
• For the tobacco industry, the youth has become a lucrative market.
• According to an estimate, currently, 5 to 25 percent of adolescents use or are using tobacco products and smoking-related products.
• What is more worrying is that tobacco use at a very early age among our adolescents is also a major factor in the increase in cancer cases.

Fight against cancer - Smokers have a higher risk of severe COVID from corona infection

• There is widespread harm caused by tobacco and, as a result, rising tobacco-related cancer cases. The patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation constantly remind us of the deadly effects of tobacco.
• That is why we must keep our focus on ways to fight the dangers of smoking. The COVID-19 pandemic is not the time to ignore smoking, tobacco, or cancer - it allows us to redouble our efforts.
• Lack of medical care during the pandemic has caused a high rise in cancer cases
• Experts have also confirmed that smokers are more likely to develop severe symptoms or death due to COVID-19, as it mainly attacks the lungs.
• Last year, a worldwide lockdown was imposed to prevent the spread of the covid-19 infection, which affected cancer care delivery in many parts of the world.
• Many patients faced challenges in accessing medical care. Due to this, they were diagnosed with cancer late and there was a delay in starting the treatment.
• Patients already undergoing treatment had their treatment interrupted or had to postpone treatment, giving the disease a chance to become more fatal.
• Both are addictive and carcinogenic substances, often sold through deceptive marketing as a mouth freshener among our youth.

Smoke-free world for a healthy world - Is it possible?

• Cancer treatment has many complications, cancer patients can suffer when health care resources are used to control the epidemic.
• Even during such a challenging year, we have an opportunity to make big efforts towards a smoke-free world, especially by making our youth aware of the use of this deadly product.
• The pandemic has given us a new opportunity to make our youth aware of the health hazards of tobacco and smoking use.

We are dedicated and focused to save the youth of the country and guide patients across the world to quit smoking right away and embrace a healthy lifestyle. Save your lungs and take an initiative to contact us now to make sure that you have a healthy future.

Contact Hill Regional Hospital, during this phase of post-pandemic, to stay fit with healthy lungs.

Call 254-580-8500 to book a telehealth appointment for an at-home check-up.