Tobacco kills 50 Indians every hour

Rama

If that is a real figure, then it is actually pretty good compared to other countries. This comes out to be 430 000 deaths per year related to smoking. 1,2 million deaths in Europe and 400 000 deaths in the USA related to smoking.

Population of India: 1,12 billion
Population of Europe: 710 million
Population of USA: 302 million

Doing the math (deaths per capita):
India: 0,0003583
Europe: 0,001690
USA: 0,0013245

Deaths per 10 000 people:
India: 3,583
Europe: 16,9
USA: 13,245

Not bad for India!

Average life years lost from Smoking: 12 years (NIA)
Estimated to cause 10 million deaths per year worldwide by 2020 (WHO Web Site)

Sources:
USA statistic: Smoking and Your Digestive System: NIDDK & Mayo Clinic (both give the same number)
Europe statistic: The European Heart Network

BTW: For health related statistics, the WHO is a good place to start. Also note, these are just statistics and they should not be taken too seriously. Humanity is not just a bunch of statistics. Which is why it is just plain silly to think of certain countries as "developed" and others as "undeveloped", since that is basically based on money and greed. More statistical basis.

Sama

a friend offered me a chillum the other day.

I turned him down because it had tobacco in it...

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shashank.aggarwal

This is confusing... how can 16.9 people die out of 10 people...

or am i interpreting it wrong..

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Rama

I used wrong punctuation on some numbers. I have now fixed all the numbers to use the internation numbering standard. That should be read as almost 17 deaths per 10 thousand.

Amyth

and where do the 3,245 extra victims come from ? err..maybe you meant 13.25 or 132.24 0r 1324.5

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Rama

I made a mistake in punctuation, which has now been fixed. Please read the post above yours (#34) for an explanation.

capt_mahajan

Extra victims?

Extra victims will be shot!!

Nick-H

International numbering?

Not Indian. Not American. Not British.

I think there's a few European countries that use . for thousands and , for decimal --- If they want to call it international, let them: the rest of us will just get on with writing our numbers the way we're used to them!

Please stick to English-language notation, as this is an English Language board.

Of course, Lakhs and Crores are acceptable*


*Especially in plain brown envelopes

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Darmabum

Interesting thread . . . to answer fully and to let you know where "this is coming from" a little personal background might help. My father was a doctor - a radiation therapist (treated mostly cancer patients), my brother is a radiologist, my mother was a hospital nutritionist. I grew up knowing cancer and it's effects, intimately, daily; and studied much science in college and continue to read it on my own.

My personal leanings, both philosophical and - to some degree - medical are Eastern. I have spent almost three years in India, have traveled extensively in China, Tibet, Pakistan, Indonesia, etc.

I smoke (though always outside, even when it's snowing here - and as far away from others as I can)(I'm also one of those smokers that can't stand the smell of it), as did my father and as does my mother. There is another thread on the board now, something about eating/eating less/etc . . . and it lit a light in me. I mentioned in that thread that I'd just returned from a wilderness trip, a large part of being a multi-day fast; an attempt to both cleanse myself physically and come to terms with a few psychological/emotional issues. One of them being smoking, the other drinking.

I am currently researching a book, mostly (all?!) autobiographical; it deals with addiction and it's roots. While I am not an expert (as in doctor/phychologist) the roots of addiction are many - cultural, physical, and psychological. Everything we take into our bodies, I think, can be considered in a way a drug (meaning something that does something to/for us). I also have in my family background ADD/ADHD and some other psychological issues. There is certainly hard research to be found showing indicating genetic links for these diseases.

In the not too distant past, many psychological problems have been identified as having genetic roots, therefore, perhaps, taking much of the stigma/shame out of those issues. Alcohol too has had a similar "coming out", especially - as I have discovered - as it relates to ADD/ADHD. Smoking and alcohol are "scratching some itch" we have; to say they're both self-destructive is too easy, and merely the tip of that iceberg.

But all this is about smoking (sorry for the detour) . . . I guess my point is to suggest that we look at smokers in another light. I don't think people smoke to "smell bad" or offend people; just as overweight people don't eat because they are hungry all the time, or choose to be overweight. Both are harmful to our healths; no doubt; but I think a more prudent course in getting people to quit is not (necessarily) to point out how much money they'd save; the roots (IMHO) are deeper than that.

Yogagal made some good points (and suggestions, which I'll be looking up soon) regarding meditational techniques . . . another poster thanked the anti-smoking patches and Wellbuturin for her success.

Being raised in the West, but leaning strongly East, I believe there is wisdom both places; and perhaps a more pan-cultural approach should be considered. Until the time when all of us (smokers) have Vedic and Tibetan wisdom; until the time we all have prescriptions to Wellbuturin AND the desire to quit . . . Until that time, perhaps smokers might be seen in the light of a little more? . . . compassion! . . . maybe even with a little more compassion that many of them show the rest of us/you . . .

Sorry for the ramble.

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lotus blossom

when i spent time with sadhus in benares i told them i could not partake of the boom shiva chillum because of the tobacco. it got me off the hook, since i think many take offence if you refuse.

i've heard that TB is not uncommon among the babas, so even though they generally use their own personal mouth covering (can't recall the name for it) i wouldn't want to risk the possible exposure. one woman traveler who smoked a lot with them, ended up with hep a, so, who knows...?

i did however, share some once from a small pipe with no tobacco. i was in a camp with some babas that we'd (a fellow traveler and i) had been visiting for awhile. all was shanti until my friend suddenly yelled out my name and said he was freaking out.

the camp was full of sadhus and a few foreigners at the time. it was a strange scene to say the least, esp. given that my friend was telling me that he thought one of the (agora) babas drugged him with what he thought was, i think he said dmt. not sure of these sort of drugs.

at any rate, the whole freak out lasted him about 10 minutes, in which he was having a hard time breathing and said he felt like he was leaving his body. that night, i lay restless with insomnia, with visions of skeletal beings roaming the halls outside my room. now, i was in varanasi, the city of death, so i'm sure there are lots of ghosts hanging around there, but i sorta think that my vision was brought on by whatever was in that pipe, which i smoked towards the tail end, so there was less of whatever was in it than my friend got. and while he had the same insomnia, he said he entertained no visions...

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lotus blossom

one of my professions, though not these days, was working in the field of addiction. i did a year-long apprenticeship at a well-known chemical dependency center ((i went into with a lot of knowledge with the intention of applying a revolutionary approach once accredited). i worked for them briefy after graduating before opening a private practice in which i used wholistic methods to deal with addiction.

indeed it is a multi-faceted dis-ease, thus requires a multi-faceted approach. what works for some, does not work for everyone. there are however, therapies that are an imperative part of the treatment.

number one is balancing the brain's biochemistry. even if the roots of addiction lie in the spiritual or emotional realm, the brain is affected and must be balanced in order to deal with any underlying issues that there may be. however, many of us experiment with alchohol, drugs, etc. and do not become addicted to them, though we ALL have suffered from emotional traumas. there is therefore something deeper going on. on the other hand, to add to the complication, some may not become alcohol or drug addicted, but take their solace in food, shopping, sex, drama, t.v., or whatever best helps them to turn on and drop out.

while considering ways of spending the money saved may not be the best way to approach the problem, it is an incentive for some that may make the difference. everyone responds to different incentives; for my father is was his near death.

addiction maintains a stronghold that makes it extremely challenging for most people to surrender to it. i personally do not believe that we are "powerless" as in the 1st step in AA, because that keeps people stuck. i rewrote the 12 steps while in my internship and presented them to my class. they loved the revisions in them and i started giving them to those that i worked with. i was filled with passion (and compassion, scott) while i was doing that work, but i lost steam with trying to work within a very sick system that keeps people stuck. think about it, the business, the $$ is in the recidivism, not in teaching people how to live a clean and sober life. i went into it idealistic and left the field feeling like a realist, knowing that the social factors of addiction are what hinders many people from finding their center. it may seem an excuse for those who have nevered suffered from addiction, but it is very real.

well, i could write a book on this subject, and actually started to, but now my focus has changed a bit and i need to get to work on the book that i am writing.

scott, if you've not read Overload - Attention Deficit Disorder and the Adictive Brain i highly recommend it. it describes the biochemical components of addiction in a brilliant way. and switching to pharmaceutical drugs in an effort to try and achieve this balance is NOT the answer; it's just another drug that cannot balance the delicate chemistry of the brain.

wishing you well on your journey. it's all a journey...

Buck

I could write a book too!
How spiritual it was and indeed it is.
How I was sat on the loo and instead of a shit I had an epiphany.
At the end of today, and indeed at the end of next Wednesday I will have given up cigarettes for a year!

No one sat beside me! No one held my hand! No one blew sunshine up my arse!
I DID IT BECAUSE I GAVE UP SMOKING!!!!!

It's all bollocks - either give up or don't but don't use this forum to complain about your addiction. Just use it to glorify the fact that next week I have been smoke free for a year!!!!!!

And if anyone wants to give up I'll be right beside you.

Buck

Buck

Sorry! Got caught up in my rant

Buck - Free and Healing for Eleven Months, Twenty Five Days, 4 Hours and 55 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 31 Days and 4 Hours, by avoiding the use of 8980 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me £2,005.08.
see!!! It's nearly a year!"!!

Diana

Just wanted to say congrats and Welcome to both IM and the world of fresh air, tasty food, and clothes that don't stink. I quit an 18 year habit 10 years ago (gawd I'm getting old!) and it was one of the very best decisions (and difficult tasks) of my life. You won't regret it.

On the India note, I have to say I was very surprised to see and meet so very few smokers in Kerala. I'd expected a lot of smoke...but its like California down there!

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Piscesman

I'm curious as to what the three causes ahead of it are?

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