Cigarettes are a major cause of death among Thai people. Each year, more than 50,000 Thais lose their lives due to smoking, not including those who die from secondhand smoke. Cigarettes are also the cause of chronic diseases that cause severe suffering. However, at the same time, 547 new smokers are found every day, and unfortunately, most of them are Thai youth. The smoking problem also impacts the Thai economy by as much as 75 billion baht annually. It is time for us to come together to overcome the tobacco epidemic. If many people can quit smoking… you can do it too.
Smoking… What serious diseases can it cause?
1. Cardiovascular diseases
- The chance of coronary artery disease increases by 2 times
- Within 1 year of quitting smoking, the risk of death from heart disease is reduced by half, and it decreases even more if you do not smoke again
- Reduces the risk of acute heart failure when quitting smoking within 2 years
2. Lung diseases
- Increases the risk of emphysema
- Smoking causes lifelong shortness of breath
- The body cannot repair lung tissue damaged by smoking
- Phlegmy cough symptoms will significantly decrease when you quit smoking, especially in the first year
- Smoking makes asthma harder to treat
- Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at higher risk of asthma and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
3. Cancer
- 90% of smokers are at risk of lung cancer
- Quitting smoking reduces the risk of lung cancer within 5 years
- Stopping smoking in cancer patients helps reduce complications in other organs and increases survival chances
4. Stomach diseases
- Smoking increases the risk of stomach ulcers
- Stomach ulcers heal faster in people who quit smoking
5. Osteoporosis
- Women who smoke lose bone mass and are at higher risk of hip degeneration, but this risk decreases after quitting smoking for more than 10 years
6. Other threatening conditions
- Pregnant women who smoke may cause low birth weight in infants
- Causes premature wrinkles
- Sexual problems such as erectile dysfunction
If you successfully quit smoking… here are the benefits you will receive
- The sooner you quit smoking, the better for your health
- The earlier you quit before age 50, the greater the reduction in the risk of death within 15 years
- You won’t expose your loved ones to death from secondhand smoke
Additional resources
- Smokefree.gov (https://smokefree.gov/)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, USA (www.nhlbi.nih.gov/)
- American Lung Association (www.lungusa.org/)
- American Heart Association (www.americanheart.org)
- QuitNet (www.quitnet.com)
- Massachusetts Department of Public Health (www.makesmokinghistory.org/)
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, USA (www.ahrq.gov/consumer/tobacco/)
