Cigarettes are extremely harmful to human health.

Dr. Le Thi Thu Ha, Head of the Respiratory Department, Dong Nai General Hospital, instructs a man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on how to use inhaled medication to treat the disease. Photo: H. Dung

Cigarettes are not only harmful to the person who smokes them, but also to those who inhale the smoke, especially children.

Seeing the disease is scary

Mr. D.DK (54 years old, residing in Tan Mai ward, Bien Hoa city) has been smoking for more than 20 years. Recently, he went to Dong Nai General Hospital because he often felt short of breath, tired, dizzy, and had headaches, especially when the weather changed. After examination and measuring respiratory function, the doctor diagnosed Mr. K. with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Mr. K. said that a few years ago, he had the above symptoms but at a milder level. He went to the doctor and was advised to quit smoking. However, it took Mr. K. nearly 4 years to completely quit smoking. Now that the doctor said he had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Mr. K. is scared and regretful for not quitting smoking sooner.

According to the Tobacco Harm Prevention Fund, each year, Vietnam has more than 84,500 deaths due to active smoking and 18,800 deaths due to exposure to second-hand smoke. Most of the deaths are of working age, leading to a great loss of human resources and affecting socio -economic development.

Specialist II Doctor Le Thi Thu Ha, Head of the Respiratory Department, Dong Nai General Hospital, said that for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, doctors often tell them that there is no better medicine than quitting smoking. Many patients who are truly determined have quit smoking, but there are also many patients who secretly smoke when there is no medical staff around, and even react to medical staff when discovered. These people therefore often have to go to the emergency room because of difficulty breathing.

Research results have shown that there are more than 7,000 chemicals in cigarettes. Smoking is the cause of many dangerous diseases such as: cancer (not only lung cancer, but also from the nose, throat, mouth to colon, rectum), atherosclerosis, increasing the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, limb occlusion, possibly requiring amputation. 95% of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are due to smoking. In terms of appearance, smoking makes the skin ugly, lips dark, and breath has an unpleasant odor.

Extremely dangerous for children

According to Dr. Le Thi Thu Ha, for adults, when the body has fully developed, smoking has caused many harmful effects. For children, smoking is even more harmful because their lungs are not fully developed, and their resistance to pathogens from tobacco is not high. Therefore, children are likely to get sick earlier and more severely. This directly affects their health, even creating a burden for their families and society if they cannot work and have to be treated for illnesses from a very young age.

Smoking also reduces the quantity and quality of sperm, leading to infertility in men; increases the risk of uterine cancer, menstrual disorders, and breast cancer in women; children are susceptible to rickets, mental retardation, and malnutrition...

Children who inhale secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from lung-related diseases. Some common symptoms include: colds, flu, cough, phlegm, shortness of breath, and pneumonia. If children regularly live with cigarette smoke, they will suffer from asthma and some chronic respiratory diseases. Nicotine in cigarette smoke can lead to shortness of breath symptoms and sudden death in young people.

Children's brains are still in the process of development and completion, so inhaling cigarette smoke will adversely affect the nervous system. It will negatively impact the development of reasoning skills, cognitive skills as well as cognitive function decline, memory loss, behavioral problems, and hyperactivity.

Smoking and regular exposure to secondhand smoke also increases the risk of asthma and otitis media in children.

Hanh Dung

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202504/thuoc-la-cuc-ky-nguy-hai-voi-suc-khoe-con-nguoi-291591d/