No Tobacco Day. Prevention of oncological diseases

Currently, the prevalence of smoking remains one of the most significant public health and societal challenges. Despite the apparent "ease" of smoking, often dismissed as "just a bad habit, not alcoholism or drug addiction," it is smoking that inflicts the greatest damage on public health. In developed countries, tobacco consumption is responsible for 26.3% of all male deaths, and each cigarette smoked reduces life expectancy by 14 minutes.

Smoking is one of the most common and dangerous causes of malignant diseases. The link between tobacco smoking and 12 types of cancer has been proven: lung, esophageal, laryngeal and oral cavity, bladder, pancreatic, kidney, stomach, breast, cervical, and others. No organ suffers from smoking to the same extent as the lungs. One cubic centimeter of tobacco smoke contains up to 600,000 soot particles that settle in the bronchi and lungs. Nicotine contains a range of poisons absorbed by the smoker: ammonia, carbon monoxide, aniline, hydrogen sulfide, hydrocyanic acid, and carcinogenic hydrocarbons that cause the growth of malignant tumors.

Smoking is a powerful risk factor for the development of not only oncological diseases but also cardiovascular pathologies, chronic bronchitis, strokes, and reproductive system problems.

Over the past 5 years, the number of users of electronic cigarettes, vapes, and heated tobacco systems has increased 20-fold. 90% of smokers start smoking before the age of 25. Prolonged vaping with nicotine-free liquids weakens the immune system, damages lung and heart tissues, causes cognitive impairments, contributes to increased blood pressure, and provokes the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

The danger of an electronic cigarette lies in the absence of a limiter for such a device, allowing a person to use it all day long. The belief in the harmlessness of the gadget enables individuals to vape without restriction.

A serious mistake when trying to quit conventional cigarettes is switching to e-cigarettes. Unlike smoking conventional cigarettes, the inhalation rate is higher and the puff duration is longer when using e-cigarettes, as this is necessary for aerosol production. Compared to conventional cigarettes, the size and fraction of ultrafine aerosol particles in e-cigarettes differ. For example, the concentration of solid particles less than 1 μm in size is 14 μg/m3 for e-cigarettes and 80 μg/m3 for conventional cigarettes, and the concentration of solid particles less than 10 μm in size is 52 and 922 μg/m3, respectively. However, during a single puff, when the aerosol has not yet reached an equilibrium state, it contains predominantly smaller particles in the size range of 100-600 nm, which is similar to the composition of conventional tobacco smoke. Therefore, vaping leads to an even greater amount of harmful substances entering the lungs.

Quitting tobacco smoking and vaping, considering detoxification processes with the removal of tobacco compound metabolites, including carcinogens, from the body of former smokers, significantly reduces the likelihood of developing cancer compared to individuals who continue to smoke or vape. For instance, quitting smoking reduces the risk of lung cancer: after just 5 years, the incidence of such diseases begins to decline, and after 20 years of quitting, it approaches that of non-smokers.

It is important to know what happens to the body when we quit smoking?

After just 20 minutes, your blood pressure and heart rate normalize. This is because the release of the hormone adrenaline occurs when nicotine enters the body. This leads to an increased heart rate and narrowed blood vessels.
Within 12 hours, the level of carbon monoxide in the blood drops to normal, and the body begins to saturate with oxygen. This reduces overall tissue hypoxia and improves the general condition of the body.
Within 48 hours of quitting smoking, nicotine and its breakdown products are completely eliminated from the body. At this stage, damaged nerve endings begin to regenerate. This can be noticed by improvements in taste sensations, as smoking causes atrophy of the sensitive papillae of the tongue.

Between two weeks and three months after quitting nicotine, circulation and lung function improve. Coughing and shortness of breath gradually subside, typically taking about nine months. During this time, the damaged cilia of the lung epithelium, which clear mucus from the lungs and reduce the risk of infections, also recover.
After one year, the risk of coronary artery atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease is halved. After five years, the likelihood of developing throat, esophageal, and bladder cancer is reduced by half. The risk of stroke decreases to the level of a non-smoker. After 10 years, the risk of dying from lung cancer is half that of those who still smoke.
After 15 years, health status becomes almost the same as that of people who have never smoked. The risk of ischemic heart disease is equal to that of a non-smoker.

A sensible approach to your own health and the health of your loved ones can help avoid such a serious disease as cancer. Smoking deteriorates our health, makes us dependent, pollutes everything around, harms others, and in many cases leads to rapid aging and premature death. It is important to remember that the best and most reliable treatment for any disease is prevention! Every stubbed-out cigarette, every conversation about the dangers of nicotine contributes to the common cause – preserving human health!

Department of Public Health of the State Institution "Vologda Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology", 2025