The benefits of quitting smoking at any age

There is no safe way to quit smoking and it is never too early or too late to quit, experts reiterate.

“From smoking cigarettes and Shisha (Hookah or Narguile), even occasionally, to chewing tobaccosmoking a cigarette without inhaling and vaporizing liquid nicotine, all forms of nicotine use carry health risks,” said Cleveland Clinic pulmonologist Humberto Choi.

“Anything that contains nicotine is addictive, and almost all methods of ingesting nicotine also contain chemicals such as acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, which are known to cause cancer, and crolein, diacetyl and diethylene glycolknown to cause lung disease,” he added via email.

The harmful effects of nicotine use are cumulative and, people often they do not realize the magnitude of the damage they are causing themselves until they develop a chronic medical condition.

“Vaping is particularly challenging because we don’t know everything yet health implications, although it is already linked to lung inflammation and we know that many of the same mechanisms that cause smoking problems are involved,” he explained.

In addition to damage from chemicals and additives in evaporatorsthe expert points out that some vape liquids contain very high levels of nicotine, which makes them highly addictive, and that vaporizers are often better tolerated in public spaces, with more opportunities for a quick inhale.

The result is that individual consumption can be higher than cigarette consumption, for example.

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Cigarette smoking is probably the most researched form of tobacco use, with links to cardiovascular disease, various cancers and many other medical conditions now well established, there is no safe way to smoke and it is never too early or too late to quit smoking.

Young people are especially at risk from smoking, Dr. Choi warned, because smoking in childhood or adolescence can have lifelong effects on brain development.

Advantages

“Research has shown that smoking is not without risk, and even light smokers can eventually develop life-threatening lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In addition, even a new smoker can develop inflammation and lung damage,” he said. added the specialist.