Smoking is a pandemic among young people

• May 2, 2024

The high rate of smoking among young people is worrisome. The consumption of this product has become a pandemic which mainly affects the young population of our country.

"I actually started smoking because my friends did it, and I wanted to feel accepted by them," says Luis, 19. Among the reasons to start smoking, is that of this young man.

The smoking acquires more and more addicts among adolescents who, for various reasons, allow themselves to be captivated by the addiction to nicotine .

Live with nicotine

The main chemical component of tobacco it is nicotine (a pharmacologically active substance with double effect, stimulant and sedative). At the same time it is the substance responsible for addiction , by the pleasant stimulus that it produces when activating the dopaminergic pathway and the cholinergic and nicotinic receptors of the Central Nervous System .

The initial gratifying stimulus is followed by depression Y fatigue , which leads the addict to administer more nicotine , to obtain the desired effects, such as pleasure or performance improvement; and to avoid the syndrome of abstinence , that is characterized by go to , anxiety , need to consume, difficulty concentrating, hungry , impatience and uneasiness.

The habitual use of this substance causes that, during the day, concentrations of nicotine that persist during the night accumulate in the body. Therefore, people who smoke continuously expose their organism for the purposes of nicotine 24 hours a day, according to specialists.

Adolescence, difficult stage

The specialists mention that for young people, smoking constitutes adopting an adult attitude, they think that by imitating the "grown ups" they get bigger. In some cases, the child when entering adolescence wants to be independent and the way to achieve this is by subtracting authority from the adult.

In addition, the young person can manifest a rebellion that little by little can disappear, in the measure in which the affective bonds of the family are reinforced; However, if you do not find them in this one, you can look for them in friendships, or, using different escapes such as alcoholism , the drug and the smoking .

Usually, children start smoking when they enter adolescence. Among the reasons is curiosity, but of every three young people who try the cigar, one of them becomes a smoker, with serious repercussions throughout his life.

According to a survey of adolescents, whose ages range from 13 to 17 years, they consume two cigarettes on average per day. The majority affirmed that their parents do not know that they smoke. Also, his first cigarette was out of curiosity, pleasure , influence of his friends or because he is "fashionable". However, all replied that they consider it a harmful product for their Health .

Among the causes that generate smoking are: fight the nervousness and the anxiety , diminish the appetite, attract attention, waste time or simply for pleasure.

Another reason is the lack of awareness of the serious harm that tobacco causes to the organism. Most young people do not know -or do not want to know- the disorders and diseases what it generates

Problems caused

The main diseases that tobacco addiction generates and that one in three young people who try cigarettes can have cardiovascular , apoplectic attacks, gastrointestinal diseases, Cancer in pharynx, digestive and pulmonary tract, respiratory insufficiency, pulmonary emphysema , among other.

Smokers are three times more likely to suffer peptic ulcer or duodenal; perinatal mortality and abortions spontaneous increases in smoking mothers.

More than 53 thousand people die each year due to causes associated with the consumption of this product, which means that 147 Mexicans die every day due to voluntary or involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke.

Adolescents are considered high risk groups, since more than 60% of smokers started at age 13 and more than 90% before age 20.

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