Smoking is one of the most common addictions that millions of men and women are indulged today. According to WHO, the most common cancer in men and women is Lung cancer that has the highest incidence of occurrence in terms of morbidity and mortality among all other cancers and the most common etiologic agent responsible for lung cancer is cigarette smoking?
Despite a number of public service messages, negative campaigning and a number of studies and clinical trials, the number of smokers is increasing at a very rapid pace.
Cigarette smoking is associated with a number of cancers like lung cancer and cancer of other parts of gastrointestinal tract, respiratory tract and genitourinary tract.
Quitting smoking can be really difficult, especially if you are a beginning to make these changes and improving your lifestyle.
Slowly reducing the intake of nicotine/tobacco is a much effective way of quitting as you are getting used to the new routine.
Other options you can look for are vaping. Compared to cigarettes, vaping is a healthier option. The benefits include:
- Affordability, depending on the country or region you are located in.
- Flexibility, as there are a variety of different
flavours ranging from Vanilla, Chocolate, Blueberry, Cherry, Strawberry and more. - Smell, unlike tobacco, vaporisers have a more appealing smell because of the different
flavours displayed.
Wick And Wire Co provide a healthier and more fun option for people who want to quit smoking cigarettes. Browse their variety of flavours and start having fun with your vaping experience.
However, certain dietary nutrients have the ability to improve the immunologic functioning of the body as Nature has designed human body with miraculous strength and power to regenerate and heal.
It can fight infections, diseases and
Nancy E. Lange and her crew conducted a study on 625 smokers over a period of 19 years (1984 to 2003) during which Vitamin D levels were obtained from time to time. This is not the only study that is conducted to study the metabolic role of Vitamin D, but it carries a lot of weight since it is conducted on a larger set of population and results were traced over a period of almost 2 decades. After the 20 years, the results were published and following inferences are made in the basis of study results:
Lower Vitamin D levels are associated with a greater decline in the lung functioning in smokers
Normal to high Vitamin D levels are associated with a better over-all health.
Cigarette smoking also affects other aspects of health. The first, foremost and most discussed function of Vitamin D is maintenance of Calcium homeostasis in the blood.
Calcium is required for the mineralization of bones; however, smokers seem to be at a higher risk of osteoporosis. This further increases the importance of maintaining optimum Vitamin D levels in smokers.
Why smokers require Vitamin D?
Inferences that are drawn from a number of studies and clinical trials conducted in past few decades disclosed the role of Vitamin D in preventing and treating lung cancer.
Vitamin D can activate inflammatory cells and defense cells that have the capability to fight infection, inflammation and immunodeficiency states. In the absence of sufficient Vitamin D levels, the defense mechanism is weak and incapable to fight pathogens (disease causing agents)
Vitamin D maintain calcium levels in the body that initiate caspases (enzymes that are required for the activation of programmed cell death) that automatically kills or eliminate dead and damaged cells. This mechanism clears the body of cells that have the propensity to develop into cancer without causing any inflammation.
Low levels of Vitamin D are associated with impaired response of tissues to different disease causing exogenous agents and chemicals; an example of which is cigarette smoke that contain over 60 different carcinogens.
Although the requirement of normal vitamin D can be accomplished by consuming a well-balanced diet and optimizing sun-exposure, but you can always consult your healthcare provider if you are an active smoker. An average adult requires at least 200 IU of Vitamin D per day at an age younger than 50 years.
However, the requirement of Vitamin D increases as you age for a variety of reasons. The primary reason is increase in requirement of Vitamin D by the body and impaired absorption from the body. Other indications of increase in the demand of Vitamin D in smokers include females.
Long standing renal and liver diseases since dietary sources of Vitamin D are converted into active form by liver and kidney cells.
In chronic malabsorptive syndromes that impair the absorption of Vitamin D from the peripheral body.
It is recommended to consult your healthcare provider and in case if you have serum Vitamin D levels lower than 40 to 60 ng/ml of blood, you may need Vitamin D supplementation.