Say NO to Smoking!

Do you know that smoking is bad for health? Everyone knows it, but those who smokes still continue doing so. Putting it into a different perspective, if the same number of people died in plane crashes each day as do from tobacco use, it is equivalent to 24 jumbo jets crashing every day, 365 days a year with NO survivors.







I for one am a proud person who would tell the whole world i don’t smoke! For the past 20+ years of my life, i have not touch cigarettes, not a single one.





People always say that it’s peer pressure and friends played a big part in influencing you to smoke but well, I do ‘lepak’ around A LOT back in my school days meeting quite a number of people where a lot of them are smokers. However, i managed to stay away from it!
People often say that it’s cool to smoke.






The 2 graphics above might be cool but in real life, it’s NOT COOL to smoke!!
Research has shown that smoking reduces life expectancy by seven to eight years.





Major diseases caused by smoking are :
Cardiovascular disease
Hardening of the arteries is a process that develops over years, when cholesterol and other fats deposit in the arteries, leaving them narrow, blocked or rigid. When the arteries narrow (atherosclerosis), blood clots are likely to form.
Smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing process in your arteries: it starts earlier and blood clots are two to four times more likely.
*Blood clots in the heart and brain are the most common causes of sudden death.






Cancer
Smokers are more likely to get cancer than non-smokers. This is particularly true of lung cancer, throat cancer and mouth cancer, which hardly ever affect non-smokers.
There’s a clear link between smoking and lung cancer.





COPD
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a collective term for a group of conditions that block airflow and make breathing more difficult, such as:
emphysema – breathlessness caused by damage to the air sacs (alveoli)
chronic bronchitis – coughing with a lot of mucus that continues for at least three months.





Other risks caused by smoking are :

• Smoking raises blood pressure, which can cause hypertension (high blood pressure) – a risk factor for heart attacks and stroke.
• Couples who smoke are more likely to have fertility problems than couples who are non-smokers.
• Smoking worsens asthma and counteracts asthma medication by worsening the inflammation of the airways that the medicine tries to ease.
• The blood vessels in the eye are sensitive and can be easily damaged by smoke, causing a bloodshot appearance and itchiness.
• Heavy smokers are twice as likely to get macular degeneration, resulting in the gradual loss of eyesight.
• Smokers run an increased risk of cataracts.
• Smokers take 25 per cent more sick days year than non-smokers.
• Smoking stains your teeth and gums.
• Smoking increases your risk of periodontal disease, which causes swollen gums, bad breath and teeth to fall out.
• Smoking causes an acid taste in the mouth and contributes to the development of ulcers.
• Smoking also affects your looks: smokers have paler skin and more wrinkles. This is because smoking reduces the blood supply to the skin and lowers levels of vitamin A.
• For men in their 30s and 40s, smoking increases the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) by about 50 per cent.
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THAT’S not about it yet!!
You could risk the lives of your loved ones too!!! So if you love the ones around you, do think twice every time you light a cigarette!








 That being said, There’s a contest running with cash prizes to be won. The most creative photos portraying TAK NAK to smoking will WIN!!!
Winners are chosen based on 50% votes & 50% marks given by Ministry of Health.
*Requirements : there should be no photos of cigarette or cigarette boxes.
The photos for this TAK NAK ROKOK picture contest can be broadened to smoking kills or the dangers of being a second hand smoker.
Here’s the information for the cash prizes :
• Grand Price cash-RM 1,000.00
• 2nd Price cash-RM 700.00
• 3rd Price cash-RM 500.00
• 4th Price cash-RM 300
• 5th Price cash-RM 150
• Consolation Price – Voucher Worth RM50.00
For more info on the contest, you can go to www.gayahidupsihat.my