The literature and general teaching among the healthcare community continues to provide evidence that the use of tobacco has a negative effect on the body as a whole. Today, with the amount of educational resources making its way to the hands of the public, smoking and tobacco use has been “black-listed” and deemed “a dirty habit” among teens and adults alike. Approximately 440,000 deaths occur in the United States that can be directly attributed to smoking.
The use of tobacco is the number one leading and preventable cause of death contributing to cardiovascular disease, lung disease, and cancer, to name a few. Tobacco smoking impairs wound healing. Aside from the unpleasant disturbances to one’s senses, i.e. the “smoker smell” and yellow teeth, smoking creates an environment for people to be more prone to illness. Cancer deaths can be attributed to smoking at almost a 30% rate.
The ability to quit smoking is not as easy as one might think. The relapse rate of those that attempt to quit is as high as 80 percent according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Nicotine is incredibly strong and difficult to detoxify from the human body. The argument toward abstinence from smoking and parental teaching to refrain from tobacco holds a greater front among the research.
More efforts are being made to grab the attention of younger generations in an effort to teach the negative side of smoking. The use of state tobacco-control programs has proven an effective tool in this fight. However, it is a general understanding that states might have saved more lives if they had acted sooner to implement such programs.
Some restaurants and businesses are seeking to ban smoking as a whole from their properties. This effort provides a favorable environment for non-smokers, particularly in light of the evidence backing second-hand smoke effects. The argument for or against smoking bans has hit the headlines for many years as individual states make their attempts, with some success, in banning smoking at the business level.
Whether you are a smoker or a nonsmoker, the effects of smoking and tobacco use has been played over and over in the media and classrooms for several years now. With its continued success, one may expect to see the prevalence of this education increase over the next few years. However, the evidence is overwhelming, though the tobacco giants would like you to think otherwise, that tobacco use increases the chances of illness and early death.
When parents sit their children down for that very important conversation regarding smoking abstinence, they should realize the great amount of evidence and support that they have behind them. Parents must also understand that their children will listen.
References:
AJN. (2008). Some wins and loses on tobacco use. American Journal of Nursing, 108(5), pp. 21.
Delgado-Rodriguez, M., Medina-Cuadros, M., Martinez-Gallego, G., Gomez-Ortega, A., Marcal-Ortiz, M., Palma-Perez, S., Sillero-Arenas, M. (2003). A prospective study of tobacco smoking as a predictor of complications in general surgery. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 24 (1), pp. 37-43.
Ginn, M.B, Cox, G., Heath, J. (2008). Evidence-based approach to an inpatient tobacco cessation protocol. AACN Advanced Critical Care, 19(3), pp 269-279.
Levy, D.T., Chaloupka, F., Gitchell, J. (2004). The effects of tobacco control policies on smoking rates: A tobacco control scorecard. Journal of Public Health Management Practice, 10(4), pp. 338-353.
Lewis, P.C. (2008). Tobacco: What is it and why do people continue to use it?MedSurg Nursing, 17 (3), pp. 193-201.
