Thursday, October 21, 2010

The Perils of a Puff

Dr. Samuel Johnson described the word ‘cigarette’ in his dictionary as “a white cylindrical object, which has fire at one end and the fool’s mouth at the other.” It was a humorous description of a great truth - it is foolish to smoke, as it is injurious to health. A brainstorming session on possible benefits of smoking showed that a habitual smoker is saved from three things: old age, insects and thieves. [He will die young, long before old age. Insects biting him perish, as his blood is too toxic for them. His constant cough may interrupt a thief’s operations]. It is estimated that smoking a single cigarette removes ELEVEN minutes from one’s life span. The total loss in the life span of a habitual smoker can be up to TEN years unless he quits smoking earlier.
Our body is the ‘
Temple of God’. We should respect the Temples of God and protect them. Those who indulge in worldly pleasures and unholy habits cannot please God.
Smoking poisons not only the smoker but also many others by involuntary exposure to the smoke. These ‘passive smokers’ become prone to a variety of deadly diseases. Hence smoking is both a suicide and a homicide. Let us lead a mission against unhealthy and sinful habits. Let us pray for God’s grace to sanctify our hearts, heads, hands and habits.

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© By Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.

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1 comment:

  1. Such a good post!!
    Just to add..

    * Smoking is extremely addicting!
    90% smokers get addicted before 19 years of age.
    The physical portion of the addiction is to nicotine. The psychological part of the addiction is to the relaxing, familiar sensation of handling the cigarette, watching its curling smoke, the deep and relaxing breathing associated with inhaling and exhaling, the taste, and so on.

    * Quitting is extremely difficult
    85 out of every 100 quitters using the nicotine patch or gum go back to smoking within a year. Once you are hooked, there's just no easy way out. With no program, statistically smokers have only a 5% chance of success. With a program, the average quitter's chances increase to 15%.

    * Damages virtually every organ

    * Kills 4/10 smokers.
    It is the most preventable cause of premature death

    * Don't fall for advertising.
    You wont grow physically strong or more socially acceptable because of smoking as seen in the ads. The effect in real life is just the opposite!

    ReplyDelete