Bandar Seri Begawan - Dr. Hj Rozaimee, Acting Senior Medical Officer, said yesterday that the risk of death is greater for smokers.

She cited the top five causes of deaths in Brunei which are heart disease, diabetes, stroke, asthma, bronchitis and emphysema. Heart disease kills 21.1 per cent of the population. Other killer diseases are cancer (15.4 per cent), diabetes (8.1 percent), stroke (7.6 per cent) and asthma, bronchitis and emphysema with 6.7 per cent. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes is twice as great for those who smoke more than 15 times daily. This finding was made following an analysis of 40,000 male smokers. Another research found that the risk of getting a stroke is four times greater for smokers. Delivering a paper at the National Convention on Health Promotion, he said that tobacco is a global epidemic which contributes to one death every 10 seconds; 10,000 daily; and four million deaths annually. There are 4000 chemicals found inside a cigarette with nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar as the main chemicals. Four hundred of the chemicals are considered poisonous and a cigarette contains 40 chemicals that can cause cancer. It was revealed that the drug nicotine is the source of addiction and it reaches the brain within 10 seconds, which is faster than through an injection. Dr. Hj Rozaimee said that smoking can cause a person to be less active, age quicker, develop asthma and have bad breath and yellow teeth. It can lead to premature birth for a mother-to-be and increases the risk of impotency among males to about 50 per cent for those aged in their 30s and 40s. For female smokers, the effects among others include developing cervical cancer, miscarriage and stopping menstruation before the female even reaches 40 years old. Smoking is also a waste of money as a packet of cigarette costs $3 a day and $90 a month. Meanwhile, Dr. Hj Sallehuddin, Assistant Director of Health at the Health Department in Kuala Lumpur, said despite the publication of about 70,000 medical articles since 1970s on the dangers of smoking, people still ignore the facts and figures and continue to smoke. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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