Smoking can cause irreparable damage to your mind and body. Chemicals in the tobacco travel to all parts of the body, leaving no area unaffected. According to available data, smoking causes 30% of all cancer deaths and about 80% deaths from emphysema and bronchitis. In addition to adversely affecting yourself, smoking also has a severe impact on your near and dear ones. According to WHO, about 600,000 people die every year from passive smoking. Out of the deaths that occur due to this, 1/3rd is that of children.

The Indian situation
While 85% of tobacco users worldwide consume it in the form of cigarettes, in India only 13% use it in that form. Additionally, 54% use it in the form of beedis. A study conducted on Indian smokers has revealed that an average of 8.2 cigarettes is smoked by an individual daily.

The study also revealed that the number of cigarettes smoked every year had grown to over 6 trillion. While 1 out of 10 adults dies from tobacco-use worldwide, 5% of deaths in women and 20% of deaths in men in India are caused by cigarette and beedi smoking.

What happens when you smoke?
Cigarette smoke is made up of 4000 chemicals that are present either as tiny particles or gases and about 50 are known to lead to cancer, the toxin nicotine being one of them. In addition to nicotine, the chemicals that make up cigarette smoke also include tar and carbon monoxide. Prolonged exposure to these toxins can hamper your body's ability to filter air and clean the lungs. The smoke not only irritates the lungs but also causes excess production of mucus.

It also causes a paralysis of the tiny hair-like structures like cilia that line the airways and are responsible for removing dust and dirt from the organ. Paralysis of these hair-like structures also causes a buildup of mucus and toxic substances, leading to lung congestion. The extra mucus that is produced causes smokers to suffer from the very ubiquitous smoker's cough and chronic bronchitis.

It's also one of the many triggers of asthma, which brings about the narrowing and inflammation of the airways. Long-term exposure to tobacco smoke causes the destruction of the structure of the lung, walls of the airways as well as lung tissue. The result is a condition known as emphysema. Additionally, smoking also leads to cancer of the lung and over 80% lung cancer cases occur due to this habit.

Even in today's world of technological advancement and modern thoughts, there are many instances of abusive relationships behind closed doors. Physical assault is not the only method of domestic violence or abuse. There are normally three ways your spouse may be abusing you-

Physical abuse is when your spouse takes up to beating. It is not just beating, but there can be other ways of physical abuse that may hurt you physically somehow.

Sexual abuse is when you are forced by your spouse for unwanted sex, that amounts to marital rape. Even with consensual sex, there may be certain activities during sex that you do not want to engage in.

Emotional Abuse is another form of abuse, where your spouse does not use physical control, but controls you mentally or emotionally. In all of the above cases, just tolerating the abuses without saying anything against it, may lead to serious problems in future.

#Symptoms of Being Abused

There can be many times when you are unable to judge whether you are being abused by your spouse. In this case, there are a few symptoms that you can match up to check whether you are a victim of spousal abuse:

You are afraid of your spouse,

You do not want to anger your spouse,

Lack of confidence that may make you feel that you deserve to be punished,

You start feeling that you are either crazy, or too helpless.

Now you can also judge whether your partner is abusive, by noticing these symptoms:

Your partner humiliates you and criticizes you all the time,

Your partner treats you badly in front of friends and family,

Ignores your accomplishments or emotions and blames you for everything,

Treats you as an object for sex,

Controls your life in all aspects.

Getting Rescued From the Situation

Abuse can be for both the husband and wife. But in most cases, partners do not come out in the open and talk about it. Women think they can manage and adjust to keep the marriage going, while men think it is too shameful to admit that they are being abused by their wives. But just staying quiet and waiting for a solution is not the best solution. If you want to get out of the situation, trying these options can help.

Speaking to your spouse since the very first time when you notice such abuse,

Staying strong and confident always,

Talking to a friend or a family member about the abuse,

Calling up the police for help and filing up a case of domestic violence against the spouse,

Taking up some hard decisions, such as separation from the spouse.

टेक्नॉलॉजीच्या विश्वात सतत काहीना काही नवीन सुरू असतं. ज्यामुळे आपली कामे सोपी होतात. अशाच एका वेगळ्या टेक्नीकचा वापर ब्रिटनमध्ये करण्यात आला आहे. या टेक्नीकचा वापर महिलांना प्रसुतीदरम्यान होणाऱ्या वेदना कमी करण्यासाठी करण्यात आला आहे. या टेक्नीकची सध्या वेगवेगळ्या स्तरातून प्रशंसा केली जात आहे. चला जाणून घेऊ कशाप्रकारे महिलांना प्रसुतीवेळी होणाऱ्या वेदना कमी केल्या जातात.

ब्रिटनमध्ये वेल्सच्या एका रूग्णालयात गर्भवती महिलांच्या वेदना कमी करण्यासाठी एक पाऊल उचललं गेलंय. येथील नॅशनल हेल्थ सर्व्हिसने त्यांच्या हॉस्पिटलमध्ये गर्भवती महिलांना व्हर्च्युअल रिअ‍ॅलिटी हेडसेट वापरण्याची सुविधा उपलब्ध केली आहे. यामागे मुख्य उद्देश हा आहे की, गर्भवती महिलांचं प्रसुती कळांवरून लक्ष हटवले जावे किंवा त्यांची वेदना कमी करावी.

त्यासाठी हे हेडसेट सात मिनिटांसाठी गर्भवती महिलेला घालण्यास सांगितले जातात. यादरम्यान व्हर्च्युअल रिअॅलिटी हेडसेटमध्ये त्यांना उत्तर ध्रुवाची लायटिंग, समुद्रात पोहणे, मंगल ग्रहाची सफर आणि पेंग्विंगसोबत असल्याची जाणीव होते. तसेच त्यांना मन शांत करणारं संगीतही ऐकवलं जातं.

आता अशी चर्चा आहे की, हा उपाय वेल्सच्या सर्वच हॉस्पिटलमध्ये लागू केला जाऊ शकतो. कार्डिफच्या युनिव्हर्सिटी हॉस्पिटलमध्ये या हेडसेटवर रिसर्चही झाला आहे. यादरम्यान असं आढळलं की, वीआर हेडसेट घातल्याने गर्भवती महिला प्रसुतीवेळी शांत राहिल्या.

एड्स हा असा रोग आहे ज्यामुळे व्यक्तीचा मृत्यू संभवतो. एड्स कोणत्याही वयात होऊ शकतो. एड्स हा व्यक्तिचं संपूर्ण शरीर हळूहळू निकामी करतो. महत्वाचं म्हणजे या रोगावर अजून कोणत्याही देशात औषध सापडलेलं नाही. पण खूप कमी लोकांना ही गोष्ट माहीत असेल की एड्स कसा आणि कधी होतो.

एड्स कसा होतो?

एड्स हा फक्त लैंगिक संबंध ठेवल्यानेच होतो असे नाही तर ज्याला हा रोग झालाय त्या व्यक्तीचं रक्त जर तुमच्या शरीरात गेलं तरी तो होऊ शकतो. किंवा त्या व्यक्तीला टोचलेली सुई जरी दुसऱ्याला टोचली गेली तरी हा रोग होऊ शकतो.


किती दिवसात होतो?
एड्सचा व्हायरस शरीरात गेल्यानंतर संपूर्ण शरीरात पोहचण्यासाठी त्याला 10 वर्ष लागतात. हा व्हायरस आणखी कमी दिवसांमध्ये पण शरीरात पसरू शकतो. वयानुसार तो शरीरात पसरतो.

प्राथमिक संकेत
निरुत्साही आणि सारखं थकल्या सारखं वाटणे, शरीरात दुखणं, उलटी होणं ही एड्सची प्राथमिक लक्षणे आहेत. अशा प्रकारे जर त्रास होत असेल तर लगेचच रुग्णालयात जाऊन त्याची तपासणी केली पाहिजे