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Chewing Tobacco in Teens
Tobacco - another word for smokeless cigarettes is not harmless. The fact is, chewing tobacco is as dangerous as smoking it. The three most dangerous byproducts of tobacco are nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide.
Some true facts about teens and tobacco:
- Most teens start on tobacco before they finish school.
- Most teens who smoke are addicted to nicotine. They want to quit smoking, but they can't as they experience withdrawal symptoms.
- Tobacco is often the first addiction of teens who later on use alcohol and illegal drugs.
If we can prevent our young teens from ever starting a tobacco habit, we will see a tremendous reduction in the number of adults who are hooked. The vast majority of current adult smokers began smoking before the age of 20.
Detrimental effects of tobacco chewing:
Tobacco is toxic to our body. It causes health problems and early deaths.
Tobacco is addictive. This means that once you start using it, your body requires it. The longer you use tobacco, and the more you use, the harder it is to stop. Everyone who smokes started by "just once"
- Chewing tobacco can cause sores and white/red patches in your mouth.
- It can also cause cancers of the mouth, gums, tongue, cheek, and throat. On average, only half of the people with these types of cancers survive more than five years.
- Chewing can give you bad breath, discolour your teeth and cause tooth loss.
- You can get a myriad of cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, cardiac ischemia (not getting enough blood to the heart), heart attack and thrombosis (blood clots within the blood vessels).
Then, what is the way out? Can I quit?
Quitting at the earliest stage is best. There are many reasons to quit tobacco for good. In addition to the health reasons mentioned above, take a look at these also:
- Chewing tobacco carries a heavy social stigma, especially with the opposite sex, your girlfriend! Bad breath, gum disease, and discoloured teeth are very unappealing.
- Tobacco chewing can be expensive. The money you save after quitting can be enormous, you will be surprised.
- Teenage years are the healthiest years of your life. Why destroy the foundation years of good health by putting something in your mouth that will later ruin your life? And if you do have a chronic condition like asthma, heart disease, diabetes, using tobacco can make your health even worse.
- You can, by quitting be a role model for many addicted teens……and change their lives.
Look around you….if you see tobacco addicts, then there are more number of teens who are not addicted to this silent killer. Which group do you belong to?