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The color brown represents World No Tobacco Day. Observe this awareness day on May 31 each year.
Personalized Cause offers customized awareness ribbon pins, fabric ribbons and silicone wristbands to represent this important health day.
The Importance of World No Tobacco Day
World No Tobacco Day is extremely important. I know we’ve all been hearing that smoking is bad for you since we were in grade school. That’s probably because so many tobacco products are designed to look cool to people who aren’t old enough to buy them. Don’t kid yourselves: underage people make up a huge part of Big Tobacco’s marketing strategy. That’s why they come in cool flavors and colors. It’s easier to get people hooked on a product that’s actually fun to consume. It’s a gentle way of easing kids into a lifelong habit.
Statistics About Smoking-Related Deaths
World No Tobacco Day is celebrated every May 31st. The World Health Organization created this awareness observance with the purpose of having people abstain from tobacco products for 24 hours. The day also serves to highlight how prevalent tobacco use is, while reminding people of the countless negative health consequences of smoking. Smoking related deaths total nearly 6 million worldwide every single year. That’s one and a half times the population of Los Angeles. Every. Single. Year. Not to mention, 600,000 of those deaths are non-smokers who were exposed to second hand smoke. That’s a little less than the population of San Francisco. All of those people died from tobacco, and they didn’t even use the stuff. That’s insane.
We Pass No Judgment on World No Tobacco Day
One thing I want to make clear is that I am in no way intending to demonize smokers. Smokers face a great deal of judgment already. Many have tried to quit and wish that they didn’t smoke. It is really hard to quit. Plain and simple. Just like any other substance the body gets addicted to, your brain starts to equate the drug, in this case tobacco/nicotine, to survival. The thought of being without nicotine causes palpable anxiety. So, don’t look down on people who smoke, be compassionate.
The Effects of Smoking
Smoking damages almost every organ in the body. It increases your risk for cancer in lots of places, not just your lungs. Not to mention, it significantly increases your chances of developing heart disease, lung disease, and blood vessel disease. It also increases your risk for heart attack and stroke. 87 percent of lung cancer deaths are due to smoking. Smoking raises your blood pressure, causes plaque build up in the arteries, and in the blood. These plaques get deposited all over the body reducing circulation and increasing chances of a stroke or heart attack. Every single puff of a cigarette or cigar damages and scars your lungs. Over time, breathing can become very difficult, causing COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and asthma.
Smoking is also linked to autoimmune diseases. The immune system is responsible for fighting off infections and viruses, or anything else that doesn’t belong. Because smoking interferes with the immune system’s ability to function normally, smokers often have frequent respiratory infections. Not only are you more likely to have respiratory infections, you’re more likely to develop chronic autoimmune diseases as well.
Smoking can double your chances of developing Rheumatoid Arthritis. Smoking can also cause Crohn’s disease. If you already have an autoimmune disease, smoking can cause flare-ups and worsen symptoms. There is also recent evidence to support the link between smoking and type 2 diabetes. People who smoke are somewhere between 30 and 40 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people who do not smoke. That’s a significantly increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It also gets worse with every pack. The more you smoke, the higher the chances for developing type 2 diabetes becomes.
Other Effects of Smoking
Smoking can also affect your eyes. There is an increased risk of blindness caused by macular degeneration, cataracts, and optic nerve damage. Additionally, smoking can affect your bones. Smoking decreases bone density leading to osteoporosis. Women are particularly at risk. Studies show that smoking can causes a decrease in estrogen levels in women. Lower levels of estrogen can cause women to go through menopause early, further increasing the risk for osteoporosis.
Older women (seniors) who smoke experience more fractures. Women who smoked from an early age also have a higher rate of osteoporosis. Smoking affects bone density during the growth period. Quitting can reduce the risk for fractures and further bone density loss. It does, however, take a few years for it to take effect. On top of all that, smoking can significantly impact fertility in both men and women. So, if you’re trying to get pregnant, or plan to start a family soon, you and your partner should both quit smoking.
Menthol and Light Cigarettes
Menthol cigarettes and light cigarettes are equally as dangerous as regular cigarettes. There is a misconception about both of these types of cigarettes that they are a little less harmful than typical cigarettes. There have been numerous studies that show that there is no significant difference in how dangerous they are.
Light cigarettes misled consumers into thinking they were making a safer choice. They are no longer sold. In a few studies, menthol cigarettes show to be more addictive than regular cigarettes. There is no such thing as a safe cigarette or cigar. Using a pipe, or hand rolling loose tobacco also carries these risks. The long-term health effects of vaping are still unknown. Some settings on vapes can actually release more of certain chemicals than a regular cigarette. So, if you have quit smoking by switching to a vape, use caution, and don’t modify your device to burn at higher temperatures. Remember, you are still inhaling some amount of chemicals, and you are still putting nicotine into your body.
Personalized Cause Awareness Blog
If you are a new reader, let me welcome you to our awareness blog! Personalized Cause® is the number one source for custom awareness ribbons in the U.S. Our custom awareness ribbons are a product unique to our company. We engrave custom awareness ribbons with a name, date, phrase or message on any color ribbon pin or fabric ribbon of your choice. Personalized Cause is the only company that offers custom low volume awareness ribbon pins (you can order only one, if you’d like). We also carry classic awareness ribbons, fabric awareness ribbons, and silicone wristbands. We’re your one stop awareness shop!
The Power of Awareness on World No Tobacco Day
We started this awareness blog because we know the power of awareness. We have seen first hand how big of a difference one small awareness ribbon can make in raising awareness and educating the community. The Personalized Cause website is a platform to raise awareness for as many illnesses and causes. Our awareness blog usually follows the national and international awareness observances of each month.
The color brown awareness ribbon represents smoking cessation. https://www.personalizedcause.com/personalized-awareness-ribbons/brown-awareness-ribbon-pin-personalized?rq=smoking%20cessa“>To order a brown awareness ribbon, visit us at www.personalizedcause.com
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