Topic: Hookah smoking and youth. Electronic cigarettes are a time bomb

According to experts, the tendency to smoke usually develops in young years. Most adult smokers started smoking when they were teenagers: only 10-15% of current smokers started smoking after age 19. Therefore, smoking and other forms of tobacco use among young people should be of particular concern to adults. The maximum effect is achieved if efforts to prevent tobacco use are concentrated on adolescence and young adulthood. Thus, the Minnesota (USA) Smoking Prevention Program consists of six 45-minute sessions in seventh grades and allows students to identify what causes them to smoke and teaches how to avoid being influenced by bad influences.

In young people who smoke, especially teenagers, measurable symptoms quickly become noticeable. physiological changes, manifesting primarily in those who smoke about a pack a day for almost two years:

• an increase in the number of white blood cells, which correlates with the level of carbon monoxide in the smoker’s blood;
• decreased lipoprotein levels high density("good" cholesterol) blood, which is believed to protect the body from cardiovascular disease;
• a decrease in the ability to exhale quickly (as if blowing out a candle), which indicates damage to pulmonary function.

Effective youth smoking control programs address the emotional, social and family factors that contribute to smoking behavior.

Studies conducted in Southern California (USA) made it possible to formulate the reasons for adolescent smoking: smoking of parents and peers (very important factor); easy availability of cigarettes; awkwardness when trying to refuse an offered cigarette; the feeling that others approve of smoking; presentation of a positive image of a smoker; tendency to take risks.

However, knowledge or ignorance of the health consequences of smoking does not significantly affect the occurrence of this habit. In other words, just knowing about the dangers of smoking does not stop young people from smoking. Therefore, a smoking prevention program should not be limited to simply knowing the facts.

One study found that young people who smoke, especially teenagers, believe that smoking helps cope with boredom and frustration; it gives pleasure and is a form of entertainment; designed to relieve stress; is a sign of transition to a more mature, adult status or approval in it; allows entry into a peer group (if someone accepts a cigarette rather than refuses it, this indicates mutually acceptable behavior); allows you to maintain your personal energy and feel concentrated or renewed.

Motives for smoking

There are more men who smoke than women who smoke around the world, but this ratio varies widely depending on the country: in the USA and England, for example, the ratio smoking men and women is approximately 1.35:1, in African countries - 3.7:1; Latin America— 4.6:1; Asia - 6.2:1; in Russia - 1.4:1.2. It should be noted that in our country, smoking among women has increased sharply over the past 5 years (among teenage girls and young women it sometimes takes on the character of an epidemic) and is perceived as the norm.

Why did smoking become so widespread? The wide distribution of tobacco (an annual plant Nicotiana tabacum from the nightshade family) is associated with the ability of the nicotine it contains to have a pleasant stimulating effect on the central nervous system. Nicotine is a yellowish liquid, soluble in water and fat, well absorbed by mucous membranes and even intact skin. Is toxic to humans. It is used in agriculture to combat insect pests, as it has a paralyzing effect on the insect’s nervous system.

What are the general motives that prompt a person, regardless of his gender, to start smoking?

First of all, this imitation. Firstly, it is a deliberate imitation of the manners of any company into which a teenager or adult wants to be accepted. Secondly, it is imitation of the person you like, the desire to be with him, fulfilling his demands. Finally, this unconscious imitation is the ritual of a smoking family, where for neither adults nor children there is a question - to smoke or not to smoke, the only question is when to start (from a passive smoker to an active one).

The desire for adulthood. Adoption of bad habits, including smoking, becomes for a growing person a symbol of his increasing independence, independence, and “adulthood.”

Way of self-affirmation. If a person has not been able or has not yet had time to develop the internal foundations of self-affirmation, then smoking becomes one of the ways.

Try everything in life. If others can do it and enjoy it, then why should I deprive myself of the pleasure? - the teenager asks himself, without thinking about the consequences.

"Easy communication". Teenagers believe that smoking makes it easier to get involved in the communication process (it’s enough to approach smokers and light up with them; it can be difficult to find another reason, especially when you don’t smoke).

"Reference female beauty» . Many teenage girls try to reduce their weight by smoking, causing irreparable harm to their body. Many experience the opposite process - weight gain, then girls resort to hunger strikes and smoking on an empty stomach.

"Smoking is fashionable". Teenagers imitate movie actors famous people, pop singers, believing that if such people smoke, then it is really fashionable today, that this is how you can express your individuality.

Whatever motive a teenager or an adult chooses for starting smoking, all these motives are false. We need to help children find alternative activities based on their own interests, satisfying their age, gender, psychophysiological characteristics, i.e. serious primary prevention this bad habit.

Withdrawal syndrome

On the Russian tobacco market, a “miracle novelty” called “electronic cigarettes” has been sold for more than one year. By the way, such cigarettes are no less, and perhaps even more harmful, than regular ones. But they are not subject to mandatory certification; their implementation is not strictly regulated by our laws. There have been no clinical trials of this product, which means the composition chemical substances, used in electronic cigarettes, has not been fully disclosed. And manufacturers quietly offer them as an alternative smoking tobacco.

What harm do e-cigarettes cause to the body? Is it possible to get cancer from smoking e-cigarettes (as researchers call them for short)? And why can’t you easily quit smoking with the help of this “miracle new product,” as the manufacturers claim? What are tobacconists and sellers of this extremely dangerous and expensive (literally) product keeping silent about? A lot of questions have accumulated. Conducted in different countries research provides answers to many of them, and is far from favoring e-systems for delivering nicotine directly to the smoker’s lungs. By the way, Denmark and Israel have already banned the import and sale of electronic cigarettes. Why?

“Miracle novelty” is more dangerous than regular cigarettes

“The harm from smoking e-cigarettes is obvious to many countries today, although the manufacturers of the new product are hiding the truth about them,” commented on the situation an expert in this field, a pulmonologist, head of the Center for Tobacco Quit, Research Institute of Pulmonology, FMBA of Russia, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor. Galina SAKHAROVA. “It is no coincidence that they are already prohibited not only in Denmark and Israel, but also in Canada, in some states of America, as well as in Turkey, Brazil, Australia, Norway and other countries. An electronic cigarette is a means of introducing even larger doses of nicotine into the smoker’s body. As a representative of evidence-based medicine, I dare to say: electronic cigarettes are even more dangerous than regular ones. Firstly, they contain basically the same amount of nicotine as traditional ones - 18 mg (but maybe more); in light cigarettes - 14 mg (but may be more); in super light - 11 mg of nicotine (but may be more). Moreover, nicotine immediately enters the lungs. And this is the main harm and danger of such cigarettes. Nicotine is known, among other things, to cause spasms of blood vessels.

— Manufacturers and sellers of this tobacco “miracle” are lying, calling electronic cigarettes harmless. And that supposedly with their help, a smoker will even be able to give up a bad habit, - one of the main defenders of consumer rights, the head of the International Confederation of Consumer Societies (ConfOP) expresses his point of view. Dmitry YANIN. — The main message of the tobacco industry: electronic cigarettes are created specifically to gradually rid a person of nicotine addiction both physiological and psychological. But that's not true. Quit smoking regular cigarettes using electronic ones will not work for many reasons. Firstly, electronic cigarettes also contain nicotine, albeit in liquid form. Essentially the same drug. This means that the smoker falls into the same addiction. And his motor skills are the same: he does not get rid of the habit of holding a cigarette in his hands, even an electronic one. And even the fact that tobacco leaves are not used in the production of e-cigarettes does not help, since they contain many other dangerous chemical components. True, smoke in environment does not emit from e-cigarettes. Perhaps this is the only advantage over regular smoking. A person only harms himself.

“As for the rest, as far as e-cigarettes are concerned, there is complete chaos in Russia,” sums up Dmitry Dmitrievich Yanin. — The quality of fillers and the amount of nicotine they contain is not monitored. From the first of June this year, as is known, according to Federal law“On protecting the health of citizens from the effects of environmental tobacco smoke and the consequences of tobacco consumption” “a complete ban on the retail sale of cigarettes is introduced everywhere, except for shops and pavilions, in the absence of locality shops and pavilions will be allowed to trade in other retail facilities, as well as delivery trade” (parts 1, 2 of Article 19). Also, from June 1, 2014, “smoking is prohibited in premises intended for the provision of household services, trade services, public catering, market premises, and non-stationary retail facilities” (clause 1, article 12 of the same law). But those that came into force on June 1 of this year. new articles anti-tobacco law, strictly prohibiting smoking in many in public places, electronic cigarettes are unlikely to be affected. This means that smoking e-cigarettes is possible on trains and cinemas, in airports, public catering establishments, and on airplanes, unless the carrier’s rules prohibit it?

I am convinced that all this should be regulated and regulated by Russian legislation in relation to electronic cigarettes.”

In Russia, it is only prohibited to produce products that imitate regular cigarettes (producing electronic cigarettes in the form of regular cigarettes). But, for example, it is possible to produce e-cigarettes in the form of an inhaler or a pen.

“Pregnant women who smoke smokeless tobacco do not bear boys.”

The world has long since deciphered the code electronic device called "electronic cigarette". These are “electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) designed specifically for delivery into the lungs of the smoker chemical mixture. Typically this mixture consists of nicotine, propylene glycol and other chemicals. A number of ENDS are available with flavors, which should attract teenagers and young adults.”

This is, so to speak, official description electronic cigarettes, but far from complete. And it requires decoding. Today, smoking smokeless cigarettes, which includes electronic cigarettes, is causing concern throughout the world. In many countries, especially in developed ones, they have already realized the enormous harm of electronic cigarettes to public health. Perhaps, except for Russia. Fortunately, in our country these cigarettes are still a rarity. And mass demand for them is most likely restrained by the price (e-cigarettes are about 10 times more expensive than regular cigarettes!).

According to WHO information obtained from global surveys in age group 13-15 years, in all regions where they were carried out, there was an increase in smoking of smokeless tobacco. And the risk of mortality in this group is increased compared to those who do not smoke such tobacco. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has concluded that smokeless tobacco is a carcinogen, causing oral and pancreatic cancer.

Studies conducted in some countries South-East Asia, also showed that using smokeless tobacco during pregnancy leads to adverse outcomes: children are born with low birth weight. And there’s a real problem with male fetuses: women who smoke smokeless tobacco simply don’t bear boys.

However, the tobacco industry is expanding its sales in developing countries and all in to a greater extent focuses on smokeless tobacco products. The tobacco industry views smokeless tobacco as a cheap but extremely profitable business.

And in other countries of Southeast Asia, research has proven that smokeless tobacco contains several carcinogenic compounds, more high concentrations specific tobacco nitrasamines and other chemicals that cause oral and pancreatic cancer. Until recently, it was believed that smokeless tobacco was a less harmful alternative to smoking tobacco because it did not contain PAGs. But this is not so - research has proven that this polycyclic aromatic bicarbonate enters moist snuff during drying tobacco leaves when preparing it.

Therefore, smoking smokeless tobacco does not relieve a person from a bad habit. Moreover, addiction develops even faster. Researchers note that cunning manufacturers mask the sharp taste of smokeless tobacco by adding flavorings that are familiar and popular among young people since childhood: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry. After a short period of smoking smokeless tobacco, nicotine addiction intensifies.

And the increased number of smokeless tobacco smokers in developing countries has led to an increase in the number of people who smoke both types of tobacco products: regular and electronic. Therefore, smokeless tobacco should never be advertised as a product that will reduce the number of smokers.

“The risk of addiction to e-cigarettes for those who have never smoked is very high”

One of the arguments of e-cigarette promoters is that they do not contain nicotine. But nicotine is contained in cartridges. Thanks to numerous studies conducted in different countries, it became known: cartridges usually contain from 6 to 24 mg of nicotine, but sometimes more than 100 mg! How can an ordinary buyer check this? Some countries have begun to warn their citizens that until a particular e-cigarette product is deemed safe and of acceptable quality by the competent national regulatory authority, consumers are strongly advised not to use such products, including e-cigarettes, that contain nicotine.

There is hardly any need to explain what nicotine is. Here is his assessment by experts recent years: “Nicotine contained in tobacco products is a chemical addictive, and in excessive quantities can lead to death (0.5-1.0 mg per 1 kg of human weight).” And no matter how hard manufacturers try to change external form electronic smoking article(cigarettes, cigars, pipes or hookahs, even in the form of a writing pen or even a flash drive), its internal content remains. And the dependence on it remains. Even official point The statement states: “The safety of e-cigarettes has not been scientifically proven.” And the danger has been proven, but it is almost not covered in the media: it is not beneficial for buyers to know about the dangers of e-cigarettes. In any case, scientific testing of them has already shown: “The content of nicotine and other chemicals delivered by these products to the lungs of the smoker varies widely. But the consumer has no way of finding out what the product he purchased actually delivers.”

For example, most e-cigarettes, in addition to nicotine, also contain propylene glycol, which has a irritant effect when inhaled. Testing on some of these cigarettes also showed the presence of other toxic chemicals. In addition, “there is a high risk of addiction to them for those who do not smoke.” And “nicotine, whether inhaled, ingested or in direct contact with the skin, can be particularly hazardous to the health of children, young adults, heart patients and the elderly. But uninitiated buyers continue to be assured of their safety. This is another trick with which tobacco companies want to attract as many buyers as possible, while the composition of the chemicals used in electronic cigarettes is not fully disclosed.”

Another myth has not stood the test of practice: the use of e-cigarettes as a faster and painless way to stop smoking regular tobacco. There are no scientifically based guidelines for their use as substitutes or smoking cessation devices. But the fact that with the help of this electronic device nicotine is delivered directly to the lungs indicates the absolute harm of e-cigarettes. None of the other smoking reduction or cessation devices available deliver nicotine directly to the lungs, which is itself dangerous.

In Korea, for example, liquid chromatography (mass spectrometry) was used to determine the content of electronic cigarettes and additives to them. The results were staggering: 10 toxins were identified and discrepancies in labeling and actual nicotine content were identified. And in Brazil, where e-cigarettes have been banned since 2009, laboratory test showed: according to chemical fingerprint analysis, the liquid in ampoules of electronic cigarettes contains tobacco extracts. In Bulgaria and Malaysia, a discrepancy between the declared nicotine content and the actual one was also revealed. Naturally, in the direction of increasing it.

And none of these studies confirmed the claimed quality, safety, or effectiveness of ENDS. It is therefore no coincidence that the report of the WHO study group on tobacco product regulation made an unequivocal conclusion: e-cigarettes cannot be considered safe and as a means of helping to quit smoking - there is not enough scientific evidence for such a statement. But the intake of nicotine and other toxic substances into the lungs can be dangerous. But, alas, e-cigarettes designed for direct delivery of nicotine to respiratory system, in most countries of the world are not subject to control measures like tobacco products.

WHO still warns...

The World Health Organization, based on numerous studies conducted in different countries, has made several more important conclusions.

Conclusion one: Claims that e-cigarettes reduce the harms of smoking or can be used to promote smoking cessation should be prohibited until this has been proven clinical level. E-cigarettes should be regulated as nicotine delivery devices, and where this regulation is not possible, they should be subject to composition and labeling regulations, bans on public use and advertising restrictions, and promotional bans as part of tobacco control laws. sales and sponsorship. Moreover, claims that these products can be used to assist smoking cessation should be prohibited until scientific evidence is available.

Conclusion two: Nicotine and nicotine-containing products for human use must be regulated. WHO regulators are concerned that the quality and safety of these products have not been established.

Conclusion three: We need to address the use of all forms of tobacco, not just regular smoking. Ensure that all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, are subject to comprehensive control by an independent government scientific institution. And as part of such control, force manufacturers to disclose the ingredients they contain. And on an ongoing basis test and measure the composition of smokeless tobacco products and the products they emit.

The sale of electronic cigarettes has been going on for more than 10 years, with the exception of those countries where they are prohibited, and these products are about to flood the whole world. Many states are still pondering whether electronic systems for delivering nicotine directly into the lungs of a smoker should be considered tobacco products. And should they be banned? In general, there is obvious growing concern at the international level about the quality and safety of smokeless tobacco. Today it “falls out” of the scope of regulation of created nicotine delivery products. And all this is happening against the background of their increasing penetration into new markets.

What about Russia? In our country, electronic cigarettes have not yet become the subject of serious consideration, even at the legislative level. It’s as if they aren’t even in the country. So, as far as prohibitions regarding their smoking, compliance with the declared content, quality, we are, finally, as far as the moon.

It’s time in Russia to ban smoking electronic cigarettes in public places, limit advertising, sales promotion and sponsorship. In many countries this has already been done - to the point of a total ban on the import and sale of this “miracle new product”.

The more smoking bans there are, the more people smoke. Young people disappear in hookah bars, teenagers fumigate each other with the vapor of electronic cigarettes. What will smoking fashion bring to the younger generation?

Fashion is a global and merciless dictator. Life today modern man completely subordinated to various trends: things, appearance, behavior, thinking and even habits - all this is shaped by fashion. But if haircuts and beards turn young people into an army of clones, then other fashion trends are not so harmless. For example, vaping (from the English vapor - “steam”), or smoking electronic cigarettes (steam generators) - arouses keen interest among teenagers and concern among specialists.

Companions in dope

Entrepreneurs are actively popularizing a new trend - creating vape communities. Their main the target audience- young people, including high school students. Countless groups dedicated to the fashionable hobby are springing up on the Internet; vape shops - departments and smoking shops - are opening in Nizhny.

The main declared feature of the electronic cigarette is thick clouds of exhaled vapor. The vaping community is formed around this cloud.

“With the help of an electronic cigarette, I quit smoking,” says Nizhny Novgorod resident Ivan Nesterov. - I haven’t let go of a cigarette since I was 12 years old, now I’m 23. Electronic cigarette - is it bad? There is minimal harm, it calms the nerves.”

Moreover, sometimes those who have not smoked before and did not intend to become “steamers” - they are interested in the created subculture. These are mostly teenagers - almost children.

“All my friends smoke a pipe. It's practically harmless! We hang out, communicate, and you can do vaping wherever you want,” says 17-year-old Yegor Ermilov. “When I bought the pipe, they explained to me in the store: smoking tobacco is now prohibited in many places, but there are no restrictions for electronic cigarettes.”

Other young Russians sit in hookah bars, imagining themselves as nothing less than sheikhs. There is also a community there.

“Good company, conversation, aromas - it’s very relaxing,” says Olga Tsaritsyna from Nizhny Novgorod. - I don’t smoke myself, but I like hookah. I didn’t notice any addiction to bad habits. Yes, and smoking once is not harmful. Hookah is less dangerous than regular cigarettes.”

By the way, people began to indulge in this overseas hobby not only in restaurants or at home, but right on the embankments, in open areas. They simply place the hookah on the trunk of the car.

Dangerous for children!

“Cigarettes are no longer in fashion among young people - electronic pipes and hookahs are in fashion,” says Dmitry Sorokin, a psychiatrist and narcologist at the Nizhny Novgorod Regional narcological clinic. - Someone is systematically forming such a style, and they came up with a beautiful name - “vaping.”

According to him, a person who smokes electronic tube, let nicotine enter the lungs in smaller quantities than in a cigarette. However, the harm of vaping is not so much in nicotine. Nitrosamines and diethyl are considered more toxic, the content of which in this form of use can exceed the safe standards many times over. In inhaled electron pairs the amount of carcinogen-forming substances can significantly exceed their concentration in the exhaust gas of cars and in “regular” cigarettes.

« E-Sigs capable of provoking allergic conditions And immune disorders. Their vapor is also less toxic for the smoker than for those around him - relatives, friends and colleagues who become passive smokers, - noted Dmitry Sorokin. - Unlike pipes, the use of a hookah is associated with the breakdown product of nicotine - cotinine. Cotinine is less active than nicotine, but can also cause addiction to smoking. In addition, when coal burns, it releases significant amount carbon monoxide CO (up to 10 times higher than normal). If you inhale hookah smoke in poorly ventilated areas, there is a risk of heart complications.”

Experts say that from the point of view of drug addiction in general, vaping can be considered a “pig in a poke”, since the exact composition of the liquid for the pipe and hookah is unknown.

“According to our chemical and toxicological laboratory, cannabinoids (drugs) and other psychoactive substances prohibited for non-medical use in Russia have been repeatedly found in the urine of people who use hookahs,” said Dmitry Sorokin.

Thus, it is not yet possible to talk about the benefits of vaping, but about possible harm a lot of information.

Merchants of Evil

If smoking and the sale of tobacco products are currently limited by a special law, the sale of liquid for electronic cigarettes, as well as their use, is not regulated by regulations, the Rospotrebnadzor department for the Nizhny Novgorod region reported. There are currently no restrictions on smoking electronic cigarettes in public places.

True, there is already progress - they have prepared a bill banning the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors, and they are also proposing to ban the trade electronic systems delivery of nicotine through vending machines. They plan to consider this proposal at the federal level in the fall.

By the way

For selling tobacco and hookahs to teenagers, traders will still face punishment - a fine for citizens from 3 thousand to 5 thousand rubles, for officials- from 30 thousand to 50 thousand rubles, for legal entities - from 100 thousand to 150 thousand rubles. (Part 3 of Article 14.53 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Smoking and youth are very serious problem, and the problem is not only medical, but also social. While in Europe and America there is a growing commitment to healthy image life, we have a completely opposite tendency. And this situation cannot be changed without knowing the causes of the phenomenon and without having data on its nature and prevalence.

If we consider this problem in the light of a separate social group, then this problem will be one of the most pressing among secondary school students. Since the influence of peers on the student’s unformed consciousness is very great, there are many reasons for concern. In addition to the influence of others, there is a personal desire to “grow up hastily” that is characteristic of many modern children. Influence can also come from parents, as a bad example, or simply from adults who do not find anything wrong in this. Children need more attention, both from parents and from teachers, who need to observe more the aspirations and inclinations of students.

Smoking is one of the most widespread and widespread habits on a global scale, causing damage to both the health of the individual and society as a whole. Almost all segments of the population are involved in smoking, and women and youth are the most dangerous. This is a social problem of society, both for its smoking and non-smoking parts. For the first, the problem is to quit smoking, for the second, to avoid the influence of a smoking society and not to “get infected” with their habit, and also to maintain your health from smoking products, since the substances included in the smoke exhaled by smokers are not much safer than if a person I myself smoked and ingested nicotine and much else that is included in a lit cigarette.

Smoking is social problem society, both for its smoking and non-smoking parts. For the first, the problem is to quit smoking, for the second, to avoid the influence of a smoking society and not to “get infected” with their habit, and also to maintain your health from smoking products, since the substances included in the smoke exhaled by smokers are not much safer than if a person I myself smoked and ingested nicotine and much else that is included in a lit cigarette.

Smoking is evil

Smoking is not a harmless activity that can be quit without effort. This is a real drug addiction, and even more dangerous because many do not take it seriously.

Nicotine is one of the most dangerous poisons of plant origin. Birds (sparrows, pigeons) die if you just bring them to their beak glass rod, soaked in nicotine. A rabbit dies from 1/4 drop of nicotine, a dog from 1/2 drop. For humans, the lethal dose of nicotine is 50 to 100 mg, or 2-3 drops. This is the dose that enters the blood every day after smoking 20-25 cigarettes (one cigarette contains approximately 6-8 mg of nicotine, of which 3-4 mg enters the blood). Over the course of 30 years, a smoker smokes approximately 20,000 cigarettes, or 160 kg of tobacco, absorbing an average of 800 g of nicotine. Systematic absorption of small, non- lethal doses Nicotine causes a habit, an addiction to smoking. Nicotine is included in the metabolic processes occurring in the human body and becomes necessary. Children living in smoky rooms are more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases. In children smoking parents During the first year of life, the frequency of bronchitis and pneumonia increases and the risk of developing serious illnesses. Tobacco smoke blocks the sun's ultraviolet rays, which are important for a growing child, affects metabolism, impairs the absorption of sugar and destroys vitamins. WITH, necessary for the child during the period of growth. At the age of 5-9 years, the child’s lung function is impaired. As a result, there is a decrease in the ability to physical activity, requiring endurance and tension. Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy are predisposed to seizures. They are much more likely to develop epilepsy. Children born to mothers who smoke lag behind their peers in mental development. Soviet and foreign scientists have established that nicotine and dry particles of tobacco smoke have an allergenic effect. They contribute to the development of many allergic diseases in children, and how smaller child, those more harm tobacco smoke causes damage to his body. Smoking among teenagers primarily affects the nervous and cardiac systems. vascular systems. At the age of 12-15 they already complain of shortness of breath when physical activity. As a result of many years of observations, the French doctor Dekalzne, 100 years ago, came to the conclusion that even slight smoking causes anemia and digestive disorders in children. Smoking negatively affects a student's academic performance. The number of underachievers increases in those classes where there are more smokers. Smoking among schoolchildren slows down their physical and mental development. The sooner children, teenagers, boys and girls become acquainted with smoking and start smoking, the faster they will get used to it, and in the future it will be very difficult to quit smoking.

It turns out that if a person smokes from 1 to 9 cigarettes a day, he shortens his life (on average) by 4.6 years compared to non-smokers; if he smokes from 10 to 19 cigarettes, then for 5.5 years; if you smoked 20 to 39 cigarettes - for 6.2 years. Long-term and heavy smokers are 13 times more likely to develop angina pectoris, 12 times more likely to suffer from myocardial infarction, 10 times more likely to develop stomach ulcers and 30 times more likely to develop lung cancer. Scientists have found that smoking is TWO times more dangerous for a growing body than for an adult. A smoker’s heart makes 15 thousand more contractions per day, and the body’s supply of oxygen and other necessary substances is worse, as under the influence of tobacco blood vessels the teenager shrinks. Scientists have found that tobacco contains a lot of toxic substances. Among them, nicotine is the most famous: in its toxicity it is equal to hydrocyanic acid.

Scientists conducted research, and it turned out that tobacco has a much stronger effect on the girl’s body: “the skin withers”, the voice becomes hoarse faster.

Over the past decades, scientists have found that people who do not smoke have started to develop diseases that are common to smokers. Cause? Non-smoking people long time were in the room with smokers. When smoking, 20-25% of toxic substances penetrate into the human body, and 50% enters the air along with exhaled smoke. And those around them breathe it. It turns out that non-smokers “smoke”. There was even a special term - “passive” smoking.

Even in the United States, with all the dominance of tobacco advertising, tens of millions of Americans have quit smoking. The same thing happens in England, Sweden and Finland. Norway is determined to become a smoke-free nation by the new century. Many countries have passed laws prohibiting teenagers from smoking.

In our country, smoking is prohibited in sports palaces, swimming pools, gyms, educational and medical institutions, sanatoriums and resorts, and on transport.

So why do they still sell cigarettes in kiosks? Yes, because, unfortunately, categorical prohibitions do not always have an effect on a heavy smoker. All kinds of homemade products, surrogates, are much more harmful than tobacco prepared in factory conditions. It is probably not yet possible to simply ban people from smoking, but convincing them to quit smoking is possible.

The harm of tobacco has been proven, many people have quit smoking, there is a fight against “passive smoking”... Proponents of tobacco often refer to the fact that many outstanding people, for example, Darwin, Newton, A. M. Gorky, composer S. V. Rachmaninov and even the physician-scientist S. P. Botkin smoked. So, smoking did not prevent them from achieving success? I would like to cite here some statements of famous cultural and scientific figures. Writer A. Dumas Jr.: “...I put down my cigarette and swore that I would never smoke. I firmly kept this oath and am fully convinced that tobacco harms the brain just as definitely as alcohol.” L.N. Tolstoy, having quit smoking, said this: “I became a different person. I sit for five hours at a time at work, I get up completely fresh, and before, when I smoked, I felt tired, dizzy, nauseated, foggy in my head...” Great doctor S.P. Botkin was a heavy smoker. Dying, still relatively young (57 years old), he said: “If I had not smoked, I would have lived 10-15 years.” How much more he would have done for science, to save people, but, alas, unable to get rid of his bad habit, could not save himself.

And here is the opinion of the greatest chess player A. Alekhine: “...nicotine has a weakening effect on memory, destroys the nervous system and weakens willpower - an ability so necessary for a chess master. I can say that I myself gained confidence in winning a match for the world championship only when I weaned myself from the passion for tobacco.”

This is how outstanding people spoke about the dangers of smoking for the mental functioning of an adult. If we are talking about teenagers, then we need to state more categorically: MENTAL WORK AND

Multiple national champion in skating I. Anikanov wrote: “I think that my sports achivments are largely associated with complete abstinence from smoking. My hot advice to everyone is to avoid this bad habit" Listen to this advice.

When you first smoke, your throat feels sore, your heart beats faster, and a nasty taste appears in your mouth. All these discomfort, associated with the first cigarette, are not accidental. This is a protective reaction of the body, and you need to take advantage of it - give up the next cigarette. Until the hour comes when this will not be so easy.

Think about what we've told you. If you think that the harm caused by smoking to your health looms somewhere far away, and maybe even bypasses you altogether, you are mistaken. Look closely at smoking girl, the color of her face, skin, fingers, teeth, pay attention to her voice. You may notice external signs tobacco intoxication.

Some people believe that a cigarette makes a girl look elegant. Rather, it gives it a vulgarity.

General consequences of smoking.

1. Pulmonary respiratory system

In the area of ​​the respiratory tract of large cross-section, a cough develops and sputum production is activated. Small Airways become inflamed and narrowed. Prolonged exposure to smoke has a damaging effect on the epithelial cilia and makes it difficult for them to normal functioning. Chronical bronchitis smokers leads to disruption of mucus secretion using cilia. Found in the lungs of smokers increased content inflamed cells. Asthma attacks occur more frequently and become more severe. There is a tendency to relapse of respiratory infections.

2. The cardiovascular system

After each cigarette smoked, systolic and diastolic blood pressure increases. The number of heart beats and its minute volume also increases. Besides, cigarette smoke causes vasoconstriction of peripheral arteries. Along with this, smoking contributes to the development of conditions leading to the formation of blood clots due to: accelerated aggregation and adhesion of platelets; increased plasma fibrinogen levels and blood viscosity; reducing the life span of platelets and blood clotting time.

Smoking leads to an increase in total serum cholesterol and free cholesterol levels. fatty acids in plasma. Smoking also increases the risk of sudden death and development of atherosclerotic disease peripheral vessels, which, in turn, increases the risk of tissue necrosis and limb amputation in such patients. Along with this, smoking is directly associated with hypertension and increased cholesterol levels in the blood, which increases the risk of developing coronary disease And cardiovascular disease. Smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease in women taking oral contraceptives.

3. cancer

Back in the 20s of our century, assumptions were made about the connection between smoking and oncological diseases. However, indisputable evidence was obtained only in the 50s. As has been experimentally proven, cigarette smoke contains three groups of carcinogens (polycycletic aromatic hydrocarbons, specific tobacco nitrosamines, radioactive elements), as well as carcinogens that act as tumor growth stimulators. Numerous studies, including those involving animal excrement, link smoking to many forms of malignancy.

Smoking is the main cause of malignant neoplasms of the lip, oral cavity and pharynx, larynx, esophagus, trachea, bronchi and lungs. 95% of those who died from lung cancer (according to statistics obtained in different countries) were heavy smokers, smoking 20-40 cigarettes per day, that is, it can be argued that almost all deaths from lung cancer are directly related to smoking. Moreover, among patients with laryngeal cancer, 80-90% are smokers.

The combination of smoking and alcohol consumption increases the risk of esophageal cancer by 9-15 times and stomach cancer by 9.5 times than in non-smokers. In addition, it was revealed high degree links between smoking and cancer Bladder. Spectacle pelvis, there is also evidence of a connection between smoking and breast cancer (20%).

4. Other clinical implications

A pregnant woman who smokes exposes herself to increased risk possible miscarriage, stillbirth or low birth weight baby. Among smokers, stomach ulcers and duodenum; Moreover, in the case of such an ulcer, the danger fatal outcome higher in smokers than in non-smoking patients. In addition, septic ulcers in smokers are difficult to treat.

Several studies have shown that skin quality is affected by exposure to tobacco smoke, regardless of age and sun exposure. Smokers appear to experience earlier and more severe facial wrinkling, especially around the eyes and mouth, depending on the number of cigarettes smoked and length of exposure to smoke. Many people who smoke develop "smoker's face" or facial wrinkles. Facial wrinkles disperse under right angles from the top and lower lip or shallow wrinkles appear on the cheeks and lower jaw.

Smoke can affect the skin in several ways. External influence irritating chemicals in smoke may contribute to chronic squinting, dry or irritated skin, or damage connective tissue. Smoking has also been shown to damage collagen and elastin, substances that are also important for maintaining skin firmness.

Prevention

What are the very measures thanks to which developed countries are getting rid of smoking? First of all, this is a complete ban on advertising of tobacco products and promotion of non-smoking. Of particular note is the package of economic impact measures on smokers. In many firms and companies, non-smoking employees are paid monthly bonuses. Indeed, a smoker periodically breaks away from work to take another dose of nicotine, i.e. his labor productivity decreases. Less productivity means less pay. This method was found to be the most effective. The next most effective method is a ban on smoking in public places, incl. on the street. The logic is very simple: the smoker produces tobacco smoke harmful effects on others. In our country, particularly impatient and uncultured individuals already smoke in the underground passages of the metro.

As for smoking among teenagers, in this situation the attractive factor is the desire to look like an adult, i.e. imitation takes place, only then does the habit take root and the factors of dependence come into play. Thus, due to the above measures, by reducing the attractiveness of smoking among adults, it is possible to eliminate the craving for it in adolescents.

To reduce smoking, many different measures can be used: strictly limiting smoking areas, fines, creating a network medical institutions, specializing in the treatment of this type of problem, etc. Speaking about helping non-smokers, we can offer free treatment and sanatorium rest for those suffering from allergies to tobacco and from contamination of the body with cigarette smoke products. But all this requires revision, both economic and social policy the state in which we live.

LITERATURE:

· Encyclopedia “Medicine” 1998, pp. 156-159.

· V. Ya. Syunkova: Ensuring life safety.

According to the doctor medical sciences Vladimir Levshin, very effective therapy for the treatment of nicotine addiction is the use of drugs containing cytisine - natural substance with nicotine-replacing effect. In Russia you can buy several in pharmacies effective drugs to overcome tobacco addiction, nicotine replacement therapy has proven to be especially effective for quitting smoking