Cigarette smoking and medical students.

Abstract

Despite its well known harmful effects on health, tobacco use is widespread throughout the world. Approximately one third of the global population become smokers at the age of 15 years or more. The prevalence of smoking between genders is lessening. Earlier, men used to smoke three to four times more than women globally. The nicotine content of cigarette is small (10 to 12 mg) and a smoker inhales about 1.1 to 1.8 mg of nicotine from each cigarette smoked to its entire length; this plant alkaloid stimulates the central nervous system, causes either ganglionic stimulation in low doses or ganglionic blockade in high doses, and smokers can develop a moderate to heavy physical dependence. Among other numerous substances, several are cancerogenic, and about 98 percent of lung cancer deaths are caused due to tobacco smoke. Nicotine addiction is often more severe than alcohol addiction. Smoking also may complicate anesthetic management, and passive smoking increases the rate of perioperative airway complications in the children of smokers, too. Preoperative abstinence from tobacco is required for surgical patients and it offers an opportunity for smokers to quit permanently. Physicians have an important role in helping smokers to quit tobacco or e-cigarettes, but if a doctor is a smoker himself, his antismoking influence may be deficient. Since a significant percentage of medical students are smokers, it is worth influencing them to stop the habit. The best way is to introduce tobacco modules, stimulating students to participate in anti-smoking campaigns, offer non-smoking hospitals, non-smoking university campuses, non-smoking dormitories, and to provide medical assistance to student smokers who wish to quit.