by Godspower Ojehumen

“Don’t take alcohol, you will get drunk and not be able to control your actions and it is unchristian”  “Don’t smoke, you will get intoxicated and be incapable of controlling your actions”

These are what most persons know about the effects of alcohol and smoking, but, there’s more to it than meets the eye and I’ll love to enlighten us concerning this.

Smoking and drinking are two lifestyle habits that get a lot of negative criticism in the health industry and for good reasons. They both cause multiple complications within the body that can range from mild to life threatening ones. Amongst them include:

EMPHYSEMA

This is simply the abnormal accumulation of air in tissues, especially in lungs. The lungs are pliable organs that need to be elastic and flexible to breathe properly. Smoking causes the lungs to become damaged and it compromises their elasticity. This in turn leads to a condition called emphysema where breathing becomes laboured, even with minimal exertion. Smoking is responsible for 80 to 90 per cent of all cases of emphysema, according to PDR [Physician’s health reference].

LUNG CANCER

Smoking is one of the leading risk factors for this disease. This could emanate from first-hand smoking or second-hand smoking. Second-hand smoking is the smoke you breathe in from other people’s “business”. This can linger on in room even hours after a smoker has left.

ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

Ah! This one would get the guys attention if nothing else will. To achieve an erection, males must get a steady flow of blood going to the penis. If this flow of blood is compromised due to excessive intake of alcohol or incessant smoking, erection dysfunction can occur. MayoClinic.com sites both excessive tobacco use and unremitting drinking as risk factors for erectile dysfunction.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

When you drink excessively and smoke, you increase your chances of getting high blood pressure. This is defined as having a reading of 140/90 mmHg or above. If left untreated, high blood pressure can cause congestive heart failure, heart attacks, stroke, kidney damage and vision loss, notes the American Heart Association.

HIGH CHOLESTEROL

Cholesterol is produced naturally in the liver and it is used by the body for hormone and cell production. When levels become elevated, plaque can form on the walls of the arteries and obstruct the flow of blood to the heart. Smoking promotes this process by damaging the blood vessel walls. In addition, smoking lowers the levels of “good” cholesterol and High Density Lip (HDL) protein.

 

CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER

The liver is a major organ in the body that produces bile which breaks down fat; the liver also helps purify the blood. Heavy drinking over the course of time can cause liver damage. In the worst of cases, a condition in which the liver slowly deteriorates and malfunctions due to chronic injury.

WRINKLES

Hello ladies, this one should get your attention. The skin is composed of elastic and collagen fibres. The nicotine and other harmful chemicals in cigarettes damage collagen and elastin, which in turn leads to premature wrinkling. This could take place anywhere on the body, including the face and arms. HEHEHE!…SO IF YOU DON’T WANNA LOOK LIKE YOU GRAND MA, YOU NEED TO QUIT!

Besides all these, it’s pertinent to note that the foreigners that we tend to copy smoke and drink                   partly due to their cold weather in other to generate body heat, the weather in Washington DC ranges around 24 C /17 C , while that in Nigeria about 86 F /71 F, Even to someone who is not good with figures, the difference is alarming, so what are we trying to heat up, aren’t we hot enough already?

This article would be a failure if I fail to proffer suggestions on how to quit smoking so, here are a few tips;

STOPTOBER 2014

Public Health England’s Stoptober campaign is back for its third year – encouraging the nation the nation’s 8 million smokers to stop smoking for 28 days. If you can stop smoking for 28 days, you’re five times more likely to stay quit. You will begin to experience financial, physical and health benefits including a better sense of taste and smell and a reduced risk of stroke, lung cancer and heart disease, you can join England in this adventure, distance is not a barrier. You can watch the Stoptober promotional movie on You Tube or search for more information about it via goggle.

Self-help books provide advice and useful techniques.

You can find free information leaflets at your local General Practitioner GP) surgery or library.

Your GP may be able to refer you to a stop smoking group.

Nicotine replacement; chewing gum, sprays and patches can help in the early stages of giving up but is not suitable for people who have already had a stroke.

The NHS Smokefree Helpline can help you discuss the different ways you can give up. Their helpline opening hours are Monday-Friday 9am-8pm and Saturday-Sunday 11am-5pm. Call Smokefree on 0800 022 4 332 or log onto www.cantstopsmoking.com .

Tuxli5 to stroke.org, women should not drink more than two to three units of alcohol a day but if you are pregnant do not drink at all while should have no more than three to four units a day. This will do minimal damage to the body as well as ensure the sanity of the person.

A unit of alcohol is a small glass of wine, a single measure of spirits or half a pint of weak beer or lager. I don’t vouch for this though, if you want to be clean, be clean and not have spots because the negative effects of these twin pillars greatly outweigh the positives. Oh well!! Everyone is entitled to his opinion.

We are all free to make choices, but, the consequence of our choice is what we are not free from. So make the right choice today.

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God’spower Ojehumen is a 300 law student of uniben. He enjoys reading and writing and hope that with every article or story he writes, he changes a person’s disposition towards something.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.