Early Smoking... A Risk That Accumulates Until the Age of Forty

In this context, Dr. Khaled Fawzi Abu Al-Rub, a specialist in internal and chest diseases, confirms that smoking in all its forms and types is a devastating health hazard, and is the primary cause of all severe diseases affecting the respiratory system and the body, primarily the dangerous disease of pulmonary fibrosis.

He revealed that 20 percent of smokers experience lung enlargement due to the continuous expansion of their tissues, and this lung expansion represents the first stage that causes direct failure in the respiratory system, making the patient unable to breathe normally and in constant need of medical oxygen devices.

Regarding the subsequent disease developments, Abu Al-Rub explained that the patient then moves to the second stage, which is the most dangerous of all, which is the increase in the retention of carbon dioxide gas inside the body and its stabilization in the blood due to the inefficiency of the lung and its damage.

This stage leads to the emergence of severe health complications and emergency surgical complexities, where doctors find themselves facing harsh and severe therapeutic options that require complex surgical operations, which may force the medical team to surgically cut and remove a complete part of the damaged lung to get rid of the dead or excessively expanded tissues, leaving the patient after these surgeries bound to live on artificial respiration and forced to carry an oxygen cylinder and adhere to it in all his movements and details of his daily life, pointing out that any smoker without exception, after 10 years of smoking, will inevitably be afflicted with serious health and physical complications.

He emphasized that the early start of smoking by teenagers multiplies the risk faster, because their bodies and lung tissues are in a growth phase and not fully formed, making them more susceptible to respiratory diseases and crises at a much faster rate compared to others.

Regarding electronic cigarettes, Abu Al-Rub refuted the rumors and claims circulating about them, confirming explicitly that they are chemically manufactured cigarettes entirely, and therefore their risks, negative effects, and health damages are greater and more dangerous, especially for the youth and teenagers. He emphasized that relying on electronic cigarettes under the pretext of seeking to quit traditional smoking is completely wrong thinking and a delusion with no basis in reality, as the manufactured materials inside them cause the same catastrophic harm, if not worse, and immediate avoidance of all forms and types of smoking without resorting to alternatives is necessary.

Dr. Abu Al-Rub concluded his talk by focusing on the most prominent facts, including the absence of any definitive or medicinal treatment for pulmonary fibrosis, and that all currently available treatments aim only to preserve the remaining healthy and intact parts within the lung to prevent its complete deterioration, in addition to the unavailability of lung transplantation operations in Jordan.

For his part, Dr. Rashid Khalid Ibdaah, an associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Science and Technology of Jordan, and a consultant in cardiovascular diseases and internal medicine at King Abdullah the Founder University Hospital, emphasized that the risks associated with electronic smoking are clear and evident on the health of the cardiovascular system in teenagers and young people, confirming that it is not safe just because it is electronic.

He explained that electronic smoking causes an increase in blood pressure due to its nicotine content, in addition to causing an increase in heart rate and the occurrence of cardiac acceleration.

He added that smoking leads to severe and clear structural changes in the endocardium and the lining of the arteries, which raises the risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease in later years of life.

Ibdaah pointed out that starting this habit in adolescence enhances early addiction to nicotine, explaining that the pathological effects of smoking are a cumulative process that may show its severe results in the form of clots and heart diseases after the age of forty. Dr. Ibdaah concluded his viewpoint by directly advising young people and teenagers to completely abstain from all forms of smoking to preserve the safety of their hearts and bodies.

Meanwhile, social studies expert Dr. Islam Bani Irsheid confirms that the spread of smoking among teenagers is due to accompanying social and psychological factors, most notably peer pressure and the quest for self-affirmation during the identity-proving stage. She explained that confronting this phenomenon requires strengthening family cohesion and activating the language of dialogue with children instead of harsh punishment methods, in addition to occupying the free time of young people with sports activities and community initiatives to modify behaviors and direct their energies towards building themselves and their society.