BEAUTY : More girls into ‘glamour’ smoking

More and more girls these days are diving into the crater of smoking at an alarming rate! The new ‘trend’ is mostly observed among those who are ‘classy’ and ‘elite’. These young ladies are mostly party animals and nocturnal, they are normally seen at night, during daytime you can’t see them. Apparently, those in the ‘flesh’ trade lead the smoking pack. Ironically, these girls do know what they are doing is bad, that’s why some hide when taking their puff! These smokers are mostly town girls. It’s rare to find a girl from the village with a cigarette. Apparently the young city girls can do anything as long as it gives them a sense of security and belonging. Term it peer pressure. They believe smoking is a mark of quality and class; they are not comfortable where they are, so they smoke to upgrade their low-self esteem and confidence. But this is a false belief. Smoking doesn’t make your life better, only worse. In many cases, those they may want to impress are repelled. They give the smokers names like ashtray, smokestack and many others. Apparently, some girls justify smoking because they think smoking makes them lose weight, others to be part of the group, some to relieve tension or connect with their friends. Movies and TV shows make smoking look glamorous and attractive. Some girls probably think it makes them look confident like those women in the movies. “It gives me a sense of maturity and independence,” I overheard one lady saying. One would think smokers don’t know that cigarettes can be addictive. Seeing an attractive girl smoking is a painful sight, and believe me you won’t be attractive for long, wrinkles will attack soon not mentioning bad breath. Experimental smoking begins the addiction. Most smokers start the habit as an experiment, next comes occasional smoking at parties or on weekends; this is the most dangerous stage because it usually leads to an addictive phase. Some say, “…am not a chain smoker, in fact I smoke only twice a day, in the morning and in the evening!” Well, that may be the case but remember there’s no safe amount of smoking, every single cigarette causes some harm to the body. Once a cigarette touches the lips, it begins to attack living tissue, and it continues its attack wherever it goes. Cigarette smokers have less capacity to transport oxygen to the rest of the body, and this is the reason why smokers usually have less stamina participating in sports. Among the many effects, smokers get wrinkles at an early age, the smoke changes the elasticity of the skin and lines appears around the eyes and mouth. Your clothes and hair will smell smoke and pretty soon you can no longer smell it. Smokers get more respiratory infections than non-smokers (colds, coughs, sinuses, soar throat, and ear problems) the infections are a result of damage to cilia in the lungs. Cilia are tiny part of the lungs that acts like little brooms, sweeping bacteria’s, virus and dirt’s, when they stop cleaning the lungs, the germs and dirt stays there, resulting into long-lasting colds Quitting smoking is possible, many people each year quit but it’s not easy, it requires motivation from the smoker, and may take several attempts before success is permanent. If you are thinking about smoking, the only way you can avoid getting hooked is to never start in the first place, many people fail to stop on their own till death stops them. Nicotine activates areas of the brain that are involved in producing feelings of pleasure. Recently, scientists discovered that nicotine raises the levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the part of the brain that produces feelings of pleasure and reward. Dopamine which is sometimes called the pleasure molecule, is the same transmitter that is involved in addiction to other drugs such as cocaine and heroine, this may help explain why it’s hard for people to stop smoking. Most people don’t think why or when they smoke, they just do it, but knowing why you smoke can help you choose the quitting strategy that is more likely to work. Nicotine withdraw makes you feel grouchy, hungry, nervous, you may have trouble concentrating or sleeping, these symptoms may last for days to several weeks, but they finally do go away, Your worst craving will probably pass in a week or so, but you may keep getting cravings for months. After you quit don’t smoke at all, not even one puff, prevent a slip by avoiding smoking triggers such as alcohol and stress. Don’t keep cigarettes in your handbag or house. If you do slip or relapse, stay calm; remind yourself that you have a plan. And think about how you’ve worked so hard to quit. I have focused on the girls’ apparent increasing smoking numbers because in Rwanda, girls were rarely seen smoking. This probably reflects on the general youth trend. Anti-smoking campaigns should therefore be promoted so that our girls and youth do not venture into smoking for the false hope it raises. spicelowilly@yahoo.com

Lifestyle

BEAUTY : More girls into ‘glamour’ smoking