Tobacco's Health Risks and Youth Impact
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ScribdTranslationsTobacco's Health Risks and Youth Impact
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ScribdTranslationsREFERENCE FRAMEWORK
Tobacco and health
One of the most common results of tobacco use is cancer. The use of
tobacco has been linked to the development of lung cancer (18-19), cancer
from the mouth (20), laryngeal cancer, bladder cancer (21), cancer of the
kidney (22), pancreatic cancer (23), cervical cancer (24-25), the
stomach cancer (26), ovarian cancer (27), and some leukemias (28).
Unfortunately, these are not the only harmful effects of tobacco.
In addition to the types of cancer listed above, studies
scientists link tobacco use with the risk of developing emphysema and
chronic bronchitis (29-30). People who use tobacco and its derivatives also
they are twice as likely to die from heart attacks, in
comparison with those who do not use tobacco and its derivatives. Likewise, the use of
tobacco represents a risk factor associated with Vascular Insufficiency
Peripheral, defined as a narrowing of the blood vessels that carry
blood to the muscles of the legs and arms (6.31).
Finally, in addition to the negative effects on the circulatory systems and
respiratory issues, the use of tobacco and its derivatives also contributes to the formation
of premature wrinkles in the skin, causes bad breath, affects the production of
sperm, results in an unpleasant odor on clothes and hair, and makes that
the nails turn yellowish. Obviously, tobacco and its derivatives have
negative results for human health. Why then do we continue
using them?
The use of tobacco and its derivatives is related to a number of factors.
associates, such as addition, socialization, peer influence, the low
self-esteem, the easy availability of tobacco products, and the free sale of
tobacco and its derivatives. But perhaps some of the most powerful reasons for the
tobacco consumption, especially among young people, is pleasure and adventure (36-
38).
Tobacco and youth
Adolescence is a period characterized by rebellion against the
authorities and the norms imposed in the home and society, due to the desire to
exploration of new horizons, and due to feelings of vulnerability that arise
can be attributed to the lack of experience of the teenager. The behavior
the complexity of the individual adolescent is such that it becomes necessary to use
a comprehensive methodology for identifying health risks that affect
to this ethereal group.
The main causes of morbidity and mortality in the adolescent population
are associated with risk factors that have been learned and acquired
during childhood and have transcended into adolescence. That is why
although the harmful effects of tobacco affect all age groups equally,
its effects tend to be more harmful to young people. Among young people, the use of
tobacco is related to the search for independence, rebellion, and acceptance
social.
In addition to the health issues previously mentioned (for example,
cardiovascular and respiratory), studies indicate that tobacco use is
highly related to low academic performance, lack of attendance in classes
and traffic accidents, specifically among young people (39-40). Studies
recent studies have also associated tobacco use among adults with emulation
of those behaviors by adolescents (41-42). Recent studies have
tobacco classified as one of the three drugs (the other two are alcohol and
marijuana) that serve as a gateway to the use of other psychoactive substances
most powerful SPAs (43-44).
Promotion and prevention in health
What are health promotion and prevention? They are areas dedicated to promoting
the development of behavior patterns that improve the individual's health and
that prevent the development of health problems. Therefore, they focus on
provide information and develop skills that enable the individual
reach their optimal level of health.
Prevention is an active and two-way process that requires
active participation of the population where the changes are implemented as well as from
public health professionals (11). Primary prevention aims to
objective to prevent the development of behavior patterns that can put
at risk the overall well-being of the individual. Therefore, and as has been indicated
previously, one of the goals of prevention is to change the patterns of
behavior of the person not only providing information with the
that the individual can make rational decisions to improve their state of
life, but also helping him develop skills to change his models
of life.
It is worth noting that prevention programs are never 100% effective.
This premise does not diminish the fact that the majority of prevention programs
designed with scientific bases help us modify previously established factors
defined and which tend to have a negative effect on the health of the population
of interest. In fact, we must remember that prevention programs have
to promote healthy lifestyles that allow the introduction of
gradually establish patterns of behavior in people's lives, which, once
assimilated, improve their quality of life.
That is why it is important to first take into account all the variables
what we want to measure to ensure that prevention programs
functions. It is important to note that the level of success of the programs
prevention largely depends on the following elements:
The training on prevention and promotion that the person in charge has.
of the program. Unfortunately, many prevention programs and
promotions are designed and implemented by people who although they know the
population and have an interest in helping, lack professional training
to implement them. This is manifested in the lack of analysis of the population,
lack of incorporation of theories in the programs and the lack of components of
evaluation in the programs.
The level of knowledge about the 'problem'. Many times the
experience of the heads of prevention and promotion programs is the
the only element that is taken into account in the development of such programs. The
lack of coordination with other entities, as well as the ignorance of the
the reality of the population we work with tends to be an impediment to
the positive impact of our programs.
The lack of knowledge of current professional literature.
error in the development of prevention and promotion programs reduces the
knowledge of techniques applied in similar situations, which prevents a
greater impact of such programs.
(4) The lack of participation from the population of interest. As previously stated,
prevention requires an interdisciplinary team that includes the population of
interest. Prevention programs that do not include active participation of the
the population will not have the desired success.
The lack of an evaluation component. Many times due to a lack of
knowledge or out of fear of discovering that our programs are not effective
we forgot to include an evaluation component that helps us determine if the
the program works or not. Related to this lack, we can mention the error of
include only an impact assessment, that is, immediate, without following up on the
population of interest for a specific period to determine how much
knowledge and skill change have arisen as a result of
program.