Raquel Alves, 36, a resident of Florianopolis, smoked since she was 18 and three years ago, during the Covid-19 pandemic, due to a crisis of shortness of breath, she decided to give up her addiction. Together with other Brazilians, Alves will be able to celebrate his achievement this Tuesday (29th) National No Tobacco Day.

According to a survey conducted in 2022 by the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, 28% of Brazilians smoke and smoke about 11 cigarettes a day.

Woman reveals what it was like to quit smoking after 15 years – Credit: Unsplash/Disclosure/ND

“I was always trying to stop something, but I only succeeded after I had a very severe shortness of breath crisis. It was a pandemic, and I was very scared because I knew that this disease affects the lungs more,” he explains.

According to the photographer, it was then that she decided to make a promise.

“If I survive this crisis, I will quit smoking,” he promised.

One leads to another

Raquel says that drinking coffee or any alcoholic beverage initially made her want to smoke. However, now he says he gets sick when he smells cigarettes.

“Things also improved when I went to the medical center, I was examined and started taking anxiolytics, controlling my anxiety, I didn’t feel like smoking anymore,” he says.

How to get free help?

According to the Florianópolis Health Department, tobacco control screening and treatment is available at the city’s health centers.

“We encourage people who are interested in treatment to speak with their family physicians and make an appointment where their degree of addiction will be assessed and treatment decisions will be made based on this,” the note to the folder reads.

Follow-up can be done in groups or individually, depending on each medical center and the evaluation of each case by the medical team.

Smoking cessation treatment at SUS consists of a more intensive behavioral approach that may or may not include medication.

SUS Offers Free Treatment to Stop Smoking – Credit: Unsplash/Disclosure/ND

Cigarette addiction and consequences

In addition to dependence, nicotine causes irritation of the respiratory system, reduced movement of the eyelashes and constriction of the bronchi, and destroys elastin, thereby impairing the structure and protection of the lungs and contributing to the enzymatic imbalance that causes emphysema. lung.

Smoking is also the cause or exacerbation of over 2,450 diseases, many of which are fatal because by inhaling nicotine with smoke, a smoker introduces more than 4,700 toxic substances into the body, including carbon monoxide (the same gas that leaves the body). automobile exhaust) and tar, which contain about 60 substances that cause cancer and other serious diseases: 90% of lung cancer cases occur in smokers, 25% of deaths from coronary heart disease, 85% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 25% of deaths from cerebrovascular diseases.

Other diseases also associated with tobacco use are arterial aneurysm, vascular thrombosis, gastrointestinal ulcers, respiratory infections, and male impotence.

When inhaled, nicotine causes changes in the central nervous system, thereby modifying the emotional and behavioral state of people, just as it does with cocaine, heroin and alcohol, releasing various substances responsible for stimulating the sensation of pleasure, which explains the pleasant sensations that experienced by a smoker when smoking.

With constant inhalation of nicotine, the brain adapts and begins to need ever-increasing doses in order to maintain the same level of satisfaction that it had at the beginning. This effect is called drug tolerance.

Over time, the smoker develops a desire to smoke more and more cigarettes. Addiction also increases the risk of contracting non-communicable chronic diseases that can lead to disability and death.

Grow food, not tobacco

Tobacco is currently grown as a cash crop in more than 125 countries on an area of ​​about 4 million hectares. According to the Inca (National Cancer Institute), in Brazil, the states of the Southern region concentrate most of the production of tobacco leaf – 96.4% of the total. Production is also taking place in some states in the northeast such as Alagoas, Bahia and Sergipe.

According to Afubra (Association of Tobacco Growers in Brazil), in the 2021/2022 tobacco crop, 246,590 ha were planted in the Southern Region and 71,000 ha in Santa Catarina.

Campaign Encourages Growing Food – Credit: Unsplash/Disclosure/ND

Santa Catarina has several tobacco producing municipalities such as: Itaiópolis, Canoinhas, Santa Terezinha, Irineopolis, Irineopolis, Bela Vista do Toldo, Mafra, Papanduva, Vidal Ramos, Ituporanga and Isara.

Tobacco cultivation and production causes global environmental damage, long-term climate change, thousands of hectares of forest are destroyed to make way for tobacco production and produce fuel for drying tobacco leaves. This usually involves significant use of chemicals, including pesticides, fertilizers, and growth regulators. These products can leak and affect drinking water sources (contaminating rivers and groundwater) and soil, and harm the health of tobacco producers.

A farmer who plants, grows and harvests tobacco can absorb the amount of nicotine contained in 50 regular cigarettes in a day. According to Inka, green tobacco leaf disease is a form of nicotine poisoning that affects about one in four farmers.