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Tobacco Use has NO Upside!

Thomas3.20.2010
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Is there any benefit from tobacco products?

I think not - I have seen the terrible consequences from tobacco use throughout my 20 years practicing internal medicine, and just last September watched my own father suffer and die from these consequences.

Tobacco use - in cigarette form or chewing tobacco - results in preventable chronic illness, suffering and early death, as well as thousands of dollars spent for medical care that, in most cases, could have been avoided.

The risks from tobacco use include emphysema, lung cancer, vascular disease, heart attack, stroke, dementia, and bladder, colon and mouth cancers.

If you develop emphysema (also known as COPD) you probably will live for a number of years after the diagnosis, but these will not be quality years. During this time, shortness of breath worsens to the point where just walking to the bathroom makes you fatigued. Eventually the lungs give out, infections set in and the individual dies of respiratory failure. Lung cancer, or any of the other diseases that develop as a result of tobacco use, may kill you faster than emphysema.

 

In addition to the medical and quality of life consequences of tobacco use, let's not forget about the financial complications. It is a fact that smokers use more health care resources and health care dollars. Bills for visits to the doctor, hospitalizations, medications and surgeries add up. All of this places a significant burden on the individual, his or her family, the health care system and society.

So, with all the problems that tobacco use creates, why does our society not outlaw the use of any and all tobacco products? If we really want health care reform and want to have a healthier community and country, why not start with the obvious. Let's not create products that harm and kill almost everyone who lights up or chews this poison. And if these products are still produced despite all the above, let's be smart enough to choose health and life over disease and death.

I applaud the leaders at Lee Memorial Health System and NCH Healthcare System for making their facilities smoke-free. Those of us who work in the health care field need to be role models and teach others how to stay healthy by avoiding harmful and unhealthy behaviors.

We only get one life, so let's protect it, cherish it and give it good nutrition and exercise to make us strong and vital. Also, let's make our health and the health of our businesses and community a priority. No one can protect your life as well as you can, so remember you're worth it. Always do your best at staying healthy.

Stay well!

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About the Author
63 years old. 20 year smoker. 11 Years FREE! Diagnosed with COPD. Choosing a Quality LIFE! It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. -Galatians 5:1