May 31 - World No Tobacco Day

In 1988, the World Health Assembly (hereinafter referred to as WHO) adopted a resolution declaring May 31st as World No Tobacco Day. Smoking is a global epidemic, claiming up to 8 million lives annually, one million of which are victims of passive smoking.

Over the past decade, the number of young smokers and female smokers has increased. People near smokers, forced to inhale tobacco smoke, develop non-communicable diseases just as often as smokers. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.

According to information from the National Statistical Committee of Belarus, from 2016-2021, the smoking population in our country decreased by 2.3% (2016 – 24%, 2021 – 21.7%). Reasons for smoking: habit (55.9%), desire to relax and relieve stress (23.3%), smoking by most people around (13.7%). Main reasons for quitting smoking: desire to lead a healthy lifestyle (49.2%), health status (39.4%), influence of close relatives and friends – 6.6%

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,200 different substances, of which over 200 are harmful to the human body. Among them, nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, etc., are particularly harmful. Radioactive substances and heavy metals contained in tobacco smoke have strong poisonous and destructive effects on the human body. In smokers, they accumulate in the bronchi, lungs, liver, and kidneys. Products of dry distillation of tobacco contain tar, resins, and carcinogenic substances (benzopyrene).

Nicotine causes tobacco addiction and is one of the most dangerous plant poisons. The lethal dose of nicotine for humans is 50 to 100 mg, or 2-3 drops; this is the dose that enters the bloodstream after smoking 20-25 cigarettes. A smoker does not die because such a dose is administered gradually, not all at once, but over 30 years, they smoke approximately 20,000 cigarettes, absorbing an average of 800 g of nicotine, every particle of which harms health.

Tobacco smoke causes and exacerbates many diseases, affecting almost all organs. According to statistics, 45 percent of deaths are directly or indirectly caused by smoking. The longer a person smokes, the greater their risk of dying from a serious illness. According to the WHO, 4.9 million people die annually from various smoking-related diseases. Smokers suffer from angina 13 times more often and stomach ulcers 10 times more often. The mortality rate from lung cancer is 20 times higher in smokers than in non-smokers.

Secondhand smoke is no less dangerous, as a passive smoker inhales the same hazardous substances as a cigarette smoker.

Tobacco also negatively affects the environment. Tobacco waste contains over seven thousand toxic chemicals, including carcinogens. Two-thirds of the 15 billion cigarettes sold daily are discarded into nature. Cigarette butts account for 30-40% of all items collected during urban cleanups.

The use of electronic cigarettes, vaporizers, or vapes is gaining popularity. A vape is a device that creates a highly dispersed aerosol, or in simple terms, vapor, intended for inhalation. The vapor is generated from a special liquid that evaporates when heated. In essence, a vape is an inhaler. The difference is that the vapor in an inhaler is produced by increased pressure, while in an electronic cigarette, it is produced by evaporating liquid through a heating element.

It is beneficial to quit smoking at any time. Quitting smoking, even in middle and old age, yields positive results:

Within 20 minutes after smoking a cigarette, a person's blood pressure and heart rate normalize.

Within 8-12 hours, the body will be cleared of carbon monoxide, a dangerous product of tobacco smoke inhalation. The oxygen level in the body will rise to normal.

After 24 hours, the smoker begins to cough heavily. This is a sign that the body is getting rid of toxins in the lungs.

After 48 hours, the level of nicotine and its breakdown products significantly decreases. Nerve endings begin to regenerate, and the smoker's sense of taste and smell sharpens. For long-term smokers, the loss of sensitivity to smells and tastes may be irreversible. Therefore, the sooner you quit smoking, the greater your chances of restoring your sense of taste and smell.

72 hours after the last cigarette, the kidneys will excrete over 90% of nicotine and its metabolites from the body

After 15 years, the risk of stroke and pancreatic cancer decreases to the level of never-smokers.

Those who still smoke can quit on their own or seek appropriate help from a psychiatrist-narcologist or psychotherapist. Medical assistance increases the success rate by an average of 80%.

For all questions regarding the treatment of nicotine addiction, you can contact a psychiatrist-narcologist at your place of residence or at the Healthcare Institution "Vitebsk Regional Clinical Center for Psychiatry and Narcology" (tel. 8-0212-61-45-76).

Head of the Adolescent

Narcology Department

Healthcare Institution "Vitebsk Regional Clinical Center

for Psychiatry and Narcology" K.S. Minaeva