SMOKING IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTESITS CAUSES, RISK FACTORS AND TREATMENT PREVENTION

INTRODUCTION:

Smoking:

“Smoking refers to the inhalation and exhalation of fumes from burning tobacco in cigars, cigarettes and pipes.”

What are in Cigarettes?

Over 4000 chemicals!!!!
(60 of which are carcinogenic) ….

Smoking is a major public health problem throughout the world, especially for young adults. It’s estimated that 99% of smokers first try smoking before age 26. Smoking is associated with a multitude of health problems, including (but not limited to) lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and leads to an average of a decade of life lost.

Cigarette smoking among college students is a particularly critical problem due to the high smoking rates in the 18 to 25 age group, and smoke free campus policies are one of the most important tools in bringing this rate down.

There is evidence that prolonged smoking among the adult people causes a wide range of diseases, leading to premature morbidity and mortality. Smoking is known to be associated with about 40 diseases. The risk of developing cancer among smokers is 23 times more than that of non-smokers.

Global scenario:

Tobacco smoking remains a serious threat to global health, killing nearly 6 million people each year and causing excessive health-care costs and lost productivity. About 80 % of the more than one billion smokers worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries, where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.

Tobacco is the most important avoidable risk for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancers, chronic lung disease, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. With the increasing prevalence of smoking in developing world over the years, NCDs will double the burden of infective and non-infective diseases.

The majority of lifelong smokers begin smoking habits before the age of 24, which makes the college years a critical time for tobacco companies to convince college students to pick up the habit of cigarette smoking.

There are about 1 billion smokers across the world with around 70.0% of them living in low-income countries.
Smoking is responsible for the deaths of 1 of every 10 adults, causing around 7 million deaths across the world each year, with the life expectancy for smokers at least 10 years less than for non-smokers.
The global incidence of cancer among young adults was 43.3 per 100 000 people and the corresponding mortality rate was 15.9 per 100, 000 people. Undergraduate students are at high risk of smoking due to their young age, easy access to tobacco products, intimate association with smoking peers and influence of friends and parental smoking.

Mostly, Students may start to smoke as a way of expressing their transition into adulthood and, as a consequence, are more likely to smoke than the general population.
Some students may smoke in order to fit in, as they are more likely to become involved with different kinds of sociocultural groups while on campus.
If a student initiates smoking, it becomes difficult to stop and the student is likely to develop a regular smoking pattern for life.
According to Senol et al., among the original non-smokers who enter university, one-third become regular smokers by the end of their studies.
Masjedi et al. also showed that the prevalence of smoking is significantly higher in students in their last year of study compared with those in their first year.
The estimated cost of tobacco in low- and middle-income countries is 10% of the student’s income, so the money paid for tobacco is diverted from nutrition, education and medical care.

Harmful effects of Smoking:

Heart Diseases
Stroke
Emphysema
Lung, throat, stomach and bladder cancer.
Increase risk of infections like bronchitis and pneumonia.
Bad skin (skin tumor)
Bad breath
Bad smelling clothes and hair.
Reduce athletic performances.
Increased risk of illnesses.
Greater risk of injuries and slower healing time.

Reasons for Teenagers to smoke:

Some wants to act cool or act like someone special or dangerous.
They want to get attention.
They are curious about cigarettes.
Peer pressure
They are stressed and nervous.
Young people are attracted to the image.
Because their friends and family members are smokers.
Cultural influence.

People say that they use tobacco for many different reasons—like stress relief, pleasure, or in social situations. One of the first steps to quitting is to learn why you feel like using tobacco.

Their parents are smokers. Peer pressure—their friends encourage them to try cigarettes and to keep smoking. They see smoking as a way of rebelling and showing independence.
Many smokers’ reliance on cigarettes is heightened by emotional and psychological factors, such as living or working in a stressful environment and having friends who also smoke: these factors are in abundance at university.

Risk Factors:

Smoking is a well-established risk factor for various diseases including lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and lung disease. Passive smoking has been associated with upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and bronchial asthma in children.

The WHO estimates that smoking will kill more than five million people in a year. Despite its health risks, the use of tobacco or smoking is common throughout the world, especially in developing countries like Pakistan.

Cigarette smoking in college is seen as a social activity by those who participate in it, and more than half of the students that are users do not consider themselves smokers. This may be because most college students plan to quit smoking by the time that they graduate.

The prevalence of cigarette smoking by college students increased through the 1990s, but has since leveled off and seen decreases in recent years. Education on the dangers of cigarettes is seen as a leading cause for this decrease. This activity is being seen as less socially acceptable than it was in the past.

Cigarette smoking on college campuses has become an important public health issue and there has been increase in campus wide smoking bans and other preventive programs to reduce the rates of students smoking. The cause of these bans are now starting to be discovered and there is controversy that goes along with implementing them across educational institutes. Protests against smoking bans are seen as a possible threat at different educational institutes. Some smokers may also choose to neglect the bans and continue to smoke cigarettes regardless.

Predictors associated with youth tobacco usage:

Certain social, economic, and environmental factors can be associated with the prediction of youth and an increased use in tobacco. Risk factors include;

Lower socioeconomic status
Having parents, close relatives, friends, or guardians that smoke
Acceptance and positive views of smoking by peers
Incompletion of higher levels of education
High availability of and exposure to tobacco products
Violent behavior

Stress and emotion:

Students note that smoking cigarettes reduces anxiety, and smoking often occurs after stressful events or in stressful situations. Studies find that depressed college students are more likely to smoke and have a more difficult time quitting than non-depressed college students.

31.9% of college smokers attribute their smoking behavior as a means to alleviate their depression.

Weight loss:

For women in particular, smoking is a tool for weight loss and weight management.
Nicotine in cigarettes is a successful appetite suppressant, which contributes to the use of cigarettes as a dieting tool. The pressure to be thin along with a need for social approval drives many young college women to smoke.
Body-conscious college women are also shown to be at higher risk for the continuation of smoking.
Women who discontinue the use of nicotine as an appetite suppressant tend to gain weight initially, and women who are especially concerned with body weight will see this as a reason to continue smoking.
The media and tobacco advertising play an increasing role in perpetuating the thin body ideal.
Studies show the more exposure women have to images of thin women, the lower their body satisfaction, and the more likely they are to want to diet.

Social activity

Smoking is viewed, by some students, as a way to socialize and take study breaks.

Social Smokers:

Today’s smoking culture includes a subpopulation of smokers called “social smokers”. Although there may be different explanations of what a social smoker is, many college students define “social smokers” as those who use tobacco in more social activities and find it essential for socializing, rather than using tobacco on a regular basis, dictated by nicotine dependence.

Social smokers are not addicted to smoking, or worried about the social acceptability of their smoking habits. In a study conducted in 2004, 51% of current college smokers stated that they primarily smoked with other people and in social activities. 71% of occasional smokers smoked in a social situation, compared to daily smokers, 19% of which smoke in social environment.

Students who started smoking within the past two years of the study were more than twice as likely to be social smokers as students who had been smoking for a longer period of time prior to the study.

Characteristics of social smokers have been found to include more females and other demographic characteristics, spent more time socializing with friends, were binge drinkers and had a high importance for the arts.

Lastly, social smokers don’t perceive themselves at risk to tobacco related illnesses, nor believe they will ever become nicotine dependent. Since social smokers don’t think they’ll become dependent on nicotine, they don’t plan on quitting during college, but have intentions to quit once they graduate.

Reducing Smoking among College Students

Although the increasing number of smoke free college campuses is great news for the problem of smoking among college students.
The effort must be continued if we’re going to reduce the number of smokers in society. More colleges need to be encouraged to go smoke free, and prevention campaigns targeted specifically at college-age smokers and social or non-daily smokers should be used.
There are many effective approaches to quitting, and these should be made as easily available to college students as possible.
Because

Medications such as Zyban and Chantix are very effective, but alternative nicotine products like patches, gums, inhalers, smokeless tobacco and e-cigarettes can all have a positive effect on smoking rates.
In some cases, e-cigarettes are exempt from smoke-free campus policies, and this could serve as an effective incentive to switch to lower-risk nicotine sources for students who can’t or don’t want to quit.

Regardless of which approach is used, reducing smoking among college students and young people is the most effective way to create a tobacco-free world. It cuts off the tobacco industry’s supply of new customers at the source.