Self Health Loops

These days, the term smoking is generally associated with smoking a cigarette or a cigar. However, since 5000 BC this practice has been around. It existed mainly in African and Indian cultures as rituals in various ceremonies. With time it has evolved from in the first place natural plant stems and leaves to pipes to now handy and simple cigarettes.

The main reason for a person to smoke is the short-lived good feeling that it gives the smoker. The substance behind this may change but tobacco is the most favorite substance. Tobacco comes from the leaves of the plants belonging to the species Nicotiana. Smokers find tobacco addictive and relish it because of a chemical called nicotine. Other substances include marijuana, steam; normally flavored with tobacco or herbal fruits.

It is mainly teenagers who take this habit into their adulthood, especially when they start as young as 18, which is very common today. This increase in recent years can be associated with the appealing advertisements of mainly cigarettes. Developing countries account for the most smoking teenagers because of the lack of awareness of the health risks associated with smoking.

Over years of constant smoking, the chemicals in the tobacco smoke deposit on the lungs, eventually growing into a tumour, leading to lung cancer. Smoking is the main cause for majority of lung cancer deaths. The rapid increase in the number of deaths due to smoking related lung cancer has to lead to many campaigns to stop smoking. Even packets of cigarettes now hold health warnings claiming that smoking is harmful to health.

Smoking has been banned in certain countriesin public areas to get people to stop smoking. Almost all airports have a separate area for those who want to smoke. These attempts are to not only stop smoking people of the habit, but to cut down the number of passive smokers. Passive smokers are greatly affected too as they do not have the advantage of the filter found in almost all cigarettes. This has resulted in many objections by passive smokers to stop smoking, not only in public areas, but to stop smoking in general.

Some may say that the industry to stop smoking is growing as fast as the tobacco industry. Things like nicotine patches, different types of treatments are now available to help people quit the habit and help to stop smoking. Usually it takes a heavy smoker a few years to stop smoking completely, but with the help of these tools the time taken to stop smoking can be much quicker.