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We all want to be healthy, fit and full or energy. We want to avoid illness, pain and health problems, which could complicate our life. However many of us still voluntarily hurt ourselves. We sacrifice our money and our time just to play with our health. When are we going to realize that this is not a game and that we have only two homes - the Earth and our body...?

Our body is an amazing instrument. Through our body, we can explore the world around us, communicate with other people, we can run, dance, laugh, hug, enjoy a good meal, sunbathe, lie in the grass, paint, sing, swim, jump... If something'y wrong with our body, our mood gets worse, we're more nervous, irritated and upset. Whenever we feel pain, whenever we have flu, sore throat, whenever we fall to the ground or break a bone in our body, it destroys our daily comfort and wellbeing.

However we still seek for things which bring all this negative stuff into our life. We even pay for them and see them as a normal part of our life.

There's a lot of these things. We're often surrounded with them without even realizing it. We buy processed food full of dangerous conservants, artifical coloring and sweeteners, fruit and vegetables packed with chemical pesticides, which disturb the natural processes of our body - all of it packes in single use plastic packaging which releases microparticles which end up in our food or water again.

We live in constant stress, we're always rushing and we don't know how to stop. When we finally have a moment just for ourselves, we often relax with a bottle of beer in our hand and surrounded by cigarette smoke. Because we don't know any other way. We don't know how to relax and get rid of the tension in our body. We need something to do it for us. 

Surrounded by smoke

On of many ways people threaten their health, is through smoking. Even though this fact is well know and everyone knows about the negative effects, smokers still keep buying their pack of cigarettes with the label "Smoking kills"...

I've had a negative attitude towards smoking since I was a kid, especially because many of my relatives used to smoke. Whenever I opened the bathroom door in my grandparents' house, I was surrounded by smoke of cigarettes and saw my grandpa sitting in the middle of this with his cup of black coffee. My grandma used to smoke as well - but in secret, since she didn't want the kids to find out. When I found out, I was really upset. I still remember crying in the garden and telling them to stop doing this, because I don't want to lose them. I don't want them to die.

I've also always hated the family visits, when half of the people got up and in the middle of a conversation and left the house for a "smoke break". Instead of spending time with the family they saw sometimes once in few months, instead of talking about what's new, having fun and enjoying time together, they had to listen to the voice of their drug.

Dangerous game

"Smokers believe they smoke because they choose to. They can remember their first experimental cigarettes but no smoker can remember the day they decided to become a regular smoker. That's because no smoker ever did. Ask any smoking parent whether they encourage their children to smoke - the answer is no. That's because all smokers sense they fell into a trap." (source)

There are smokers who are aware of their addiction and they know they should stop, even if it's hard in the beginning. Then there are people who convinced themselves that this is not an addiction. They see smoking as a bad habit or even as a hobby - a moment when they can safely relax, breath out, calm down their body and mind. If you associate some activity to these pleasant feelings, it's hard to give it up. If you're trying to explain to this person why they should stop, they will not listen. They will find excuses and explanations which will make them feel they're not doing anything wrong. "I don't smoke that much. I live healthy most of the time. I do a lot of sport. There are people who smoke and live until the age of  90. Even non-smoker can get cancer..."
Sure, there are many factors for these diseases, but if we have an opportunity to partially prevent it, why don't we do so?

Smokers know they fell into a trap but they don't wanna admit it. They can't. They see smoking as a part of their personality and they're not able to see the consequences their addiction has on their body and on the people around them. They can't see how hard it is for their closest people to watch them hurting themselves and assisting them with a long and expensive form of suicide. 

One heart attack, please

Smoking is not a habit, a hobby or a form of entertainment. It's a dangerous game with our health and our own life. Except for premature aging of skin, deeper and more visible wrinkles, yellowing of teeth and hair loss, smoking pose many more serious risks. In USA, smoking cigarettes kills more people than alcohol, car accidents, HIV, guns, and illegal drugs combined. (source)

So what are risking by lighting up a cigarette? 

Atherosclerosis

= blood vessel clogging. Causes blood flow problems and may result in a heart attack.

Type 2 Diabetes

Regular smokers have 30-40% higher chance of type 2 diabetes.

Infertility and pregnancy problems

Smoking is disrupting hormonal functions in men which can lead to impotence and decreased sperm quality and make it difficult for women to conceive. Smoking increases the risk of lung, brain and central nervous system damage to unborn children and even increases the risk of infant death.

Chronic lung disease

Smoking is is associated with the development of chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema (abnormal airway enlargement) and worsening asthma. Among other things, it increases the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic cough and mucus production and is not fully curable. According to the American Lung Assoociation, smoking causes up to 80% of deaths from COPD.

Cancer

Tobacco smoke contains around 250 dangerous chemicals, including 69 substances associated with the development of cancer. Smoking increases the risk of 15 types of cancer:

• 9/10 cases of lung cancer come from smoking 
• 20-30% pancreas cancer 
• smokers have 3 times higher risk of bladder cancer
• ... and double risk of stomach cancer 

How much is too much?

Smoking brings many health risks even if you smoke 1-4 cigarettes a day.  Even this amount increases the risk of heart diseases and cancer. The effect get worse with the time - therefore it's even worse to smoke a package a day for 10 years than 2 packages a day for 5 years. 
Even "passive smokers", who are not smoking but are exposed to cigarette smoke, are in danger. They have higher risk of the same health problems, even though the effect is not so strong.

Source:

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/24/health/dirty-truth-about-cigarette-filters/index.html

https://www.plastichealthcoalition.org/blog/the-dirty-truth-about-cigarette-filters/

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324644.php

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/smoking-and-cancer/how-does-smoking-cause-cancer

https://www.who.int/tobacco/research/secondhand_smoke/about/en/
https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/14/5/315

Smoking is like any other addictions and it's not easy to quit overnight. A person has to really want it and nobody can convince or push him into quitting. However i believe that if we learn to love and respect our body, we can't hurt ourselves in any way anymore.