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By: Dr. P. Vijay Karan Reddy (Consultant Radiation Oncologist, Apollo Cancer Institutes, Hyderabad)

The problems caused by tobacco consumption were never a secret. However, the atrocities caused by COVID-19 in recent years have motivated more and more people to quit tobacco and lead a healthy life.

Tobacco causes over 8 million deaths every year. 28.6% percent of population in India, that is 1 in every 5 use smokeless tobacco and 1 in every 10 people smoke, which is a very alarming number.  In order to reduce these numbers, and to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic WHO started the World No Tobacco Day and it is celebrated around the world every year on May 31.

Tobacco affects every single cell in our body and the consumers end up facing risk of severe respiratory or heart diseases. Tobacco causes almost all cancers either directly or indirectly. It is the leading cause of lung cancer and possibly the only causative factor to cancer that has been conclusively proven- increases the risk to more than 50 percent. Other common cancers include head and neck cancers, specifically throat cancer and mouth cancer. Related to the present pandemic, smokers also have a 50% higher chance of developing severe issues due to Coronavirus disease with increased risk of hospitalization and need for ventilator.

The silver lining is that it is preventable and in many cases the damage is reversible. So, quitting and motivating people to quit is one of the best things anyone can do to keep themselves safe and healthy.

Quitting is not an easy task. Cravings and urges for tobacco can be very powerful. However, with sheer determination and external support, one can always commit and win against the addiction. As Edith Zittler said,

“The best way to stop smoking is to just stop – no ifs, ands or butts.”

This World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched the “Commit to Quit” Campaign to help 100 million people wanting to quit. Under the campaign, they have strategized various initiatives to support people wanting to quit.

Quitting tool kit (WHO):

a)    Set a quit date – choose a date which is significant in your life like your anniversary/birthday/birthdays of family members which will motivate you to commit

b)    Tell your friends, family, and co-workers – they will be support system

c)    Remove tobacco products from your environment

d)    Lastly, the most important step – curb your cravings

QUICK TIPS TO CURB YOUR CRAVINGS:

a)    Delay: Delay the urge by keeping yourself busy, have a lollipop/chips/gum etc

b)    Deep breathing:  Take a deep breath for 10 secs which will help you reduce your anxiety

c)    Drink water: Drink a lot of water

d)    Do something else to distract yourself: Go for a walk, watch tv, play a sport, spend time with family

e)    Pharmacotherapy – WHO recommends the use of nicotine patches and gums but they are more effective when prescribed by your doctor based on your dependence.

Benefits of quitting:

a)    20 min –  your heart rate drops

b)    2 weeks upto 3 months – Your heart attack risk begins to drop Your lung function begins to improve

c)    1 yr upto 5 yrs –  Your added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s

d)    10 yrs – Your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker’s

e)    15 yrs  – Your risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a non-smo ker

f)     The younger the age you decide to quit, the longer your life expectancy

So let’s all join hands and strive together to a healthier life and a healthier world!

Say “no” to tobacco and “Commit to Quit”!!!

Do you sleep restlessly and flail your arms and kick out in your sleep? This could be a sign of a disorder associated with diseases of the brain. Researchers from AU and AUH have examined whether the sleep disorder RBD — which is also known as Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behaviour Disorder — may be an early sign of Parkinson’s disease.

“We can see complications in the small blood vessels of the brain in patients with RBD, although these patients don’t otherwise have any symptoms and the brain doesn’t show other signs of disease,” says Simon Fristed Eskildsen, who is behind the study.

He explains:

“We believe that the same disease processes that cause disrupted sleep also affect the ability to control the blood flow in the brain, which can lead to a lack of oxygen in the brain tissue. Over time this will gradually break down the brain tissue and cause symptoms that we see in Parkinson’s disease.”

Monitored while asleep

The changes in the brain are associated with reduced neurotransmitters, meaning that nerves in the brain have trouble controlling the blood vessels.

“A medical treatment would be able to restore the neurotransmitter and control of the blood vessels, thereby helping to maintain the cognitive function of patients who show early signs of Parkinson’s disease,” explains the researcher.

Twenty RBD patients aged 54-77 years and 25 healthy control subjects aged 58-76 participated in the study. The participants in the study were monitored in a sleep laboratory, where they had their EEG (electrical activity in the brain), EOG (eye movements), EMG (muscle activity) and ECG (electrical activity in the heart) measured during sleep.

“The patients and the control subjects were tested cognitively and MRI scanned, and the results revealed low blood flow and flow disturbances in the small blood vessels in the brain in the patients compared with the control group. In the patients, these flow disturbances seen in the cerebral cortex were associated with language comprehension, visual construction and recognition — this was also associated with reduced cognitive performance,” says last author of the study, Nicola Pavese.

The researchers will now investigate whether the reduced blood flow in the brain deteriorates over time and how it is linked to the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The hope is that it will be possible to use the method to predict the disease in patients with sleep disorders in order to then prevent the symptoms at an early stage.

The results have just been published in the scientific journal Brain.

Parkinson’s disease

There are 7300 patients with Parkinson’s disease in Denmark. Symptoms are slow movements, often with shaking, together with muscular rigidity. Parkinson’s disease is a chronic condition that continues to worsen over time. About half of the patients experience cognitive decline early in the disease. The disease is somewhat more common in men than in women. Parkinson’s disease occurs because the brain lacks dopamine. It primarily affects adults and the first signs most often appear between the ages of 50-70.

Source: Aarhus University