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When something is going wrong in your body, there will be signs. They may be subtle, but they are visible in close observation. If you are a smoker, you may be worried about the smell of smoke emanating from your mouth or clothes. However, there are other signs that tell whether you smoke or not and these signs are difficult to get rid of!
Smoking is the harmful act of inhaling tobacco infused smoke and is a common activity all over the world. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 480,000 deaths happen each year due to smoking or smoke inhalation. The organization explained that smoking causes harm to nearly all organs and quitting lowers the risk of early death and other smoking related diseases.
Like many other substances, there are clear tell-tale signs when someone is smoking. This is especially important for finding lung problems like Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe, sooner so people can get help.
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) explains that tobacco smoke has more than 7,000 harmful chemicals like nicotine, carbon monoxide, and various metals like arsenic, cadmium, and lead, quickly reach your lungs and then travel through your blood to all your organs, including your skin. Smoking damages your skin's ability to heal because it increases an enzyme metalloproteinase (MMPs) that breaks down collagen. Collagen is what keeps your skin smooth and elastic. As you lose collagen, your skin sags. Squinting from the smoke and puckering your mouth when smoking also cause wrinkles around your eyes and mouth.
Smoking also reduces blood flow to your skin, which means it gets less oxygen and nutrients. All these things together lead to what doctors call a "smoker's face." Quitting smoking can help prevent or slow down these skin problems."
Here are some visible signs of smoking in people, according to 2013, Lung India
When people smoke, the tar and other chemicals in the smoke stick to their fingers and nails. This repeated contact causes a yellow stain that's hard to wash off. It's a very common sign that someone regularly handles cigarettes or biris.
Especially in older people with white moustaches, smoking causes a yellowing effect. This is most noticeable in the center of the moustache, where the smoke from the nose directly hits the hair. The consistent exposure to smoke colors the hair over time.
Heavy smokers often have a bluish-black tint to their lips. This discoloration happens because the chemicals in tobacco smoke affect the blood flow and the color of the skin on the lips. The constant exposure changes the lip's natural color.
Smoking causes teeth to stain both inside and out. The outside of the teeth turns yellow from the tar, while the inside develops a brownish-black stain. This happens because the smoke seeps into the enamel and discolors the teeth over time.
Smoking makes the skin age faster. This leads to wrinkles like "crow's feet" around the eyes and "cobblestone wrinkles" on the neck. This happens because smoking reduces blood flow, limiting oxygen to the skin, and damages collagen, which keeps skin elastic.
This condition, also known as "Favre–Racouchot syndrome," causes blackheads and wrinkles, especially around the eyes and temples. It is made worse by both sun exposure and heavy smoking. The skin becomes discolored with visible nodules and wrinkles.
A study published in Thorax 2006 found a connection between wrinkles on the face and COPD, a lung disease. It's thought that smoking affects both the skin and lungs through similar processes. If doctors notice signs like "crow's feet" on a smoker's face, they might recommend tests for COPD. This early detection can help people get treatment sooner and improve their lung health.
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While a hickey is generally harmless, in several shocking incidents, it has led to strokes and even death.
A hickey is typically a dark red or dark purple mark on your skin caused by intense suction.
According to health experts, the strong suction from the passionate love bite leads to blood clots that travel to the brain. It then blocks a vital artery and causes a embolic stroke.
Embolic stroke is a type of ischemic stroke caused by a blood clot or debris (embolus) that forms elsewhere in the body—often the heart—and travels through the bloodstream to block a blood vessel in the brain.
The Independent reported the case of 17-year-old Julio Macias Gonzalez, who suffered convulsions while eating dinner with his family after hanging out with his 24-year-old girlfriend and later died.
In a similar case reported from New Zealand, a 44-year-old woman suffered a stroke following a hickey.
While non-fatal, the 2010 study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal reported the medical condition “a rare phenomenon.”
In yet another case, the Danish Medical Journal reported the incident of a 35-year-old woman who experienced a sudden onset of right-sided weakness due to a left middle cerebral artery stroke 12 hours after she had obtained a love bite on the left side of her neck.
“Generally speaking, hickeys are simply superficial bruising, and there’s no scientific evidence available that could inform our thinking about this situation as it relates to stroke,” Teresa Roncon, spokeswoman for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, was quoted as saying Global News.
While it's generally harmless, in some extreme cases, it can raise the risk of damaging the carotid or vertebral artery due to extreme pressure.
The carotid arteries, one on each side of the neck, are responsible for supplying blood to the head, including the brain. Vigorous manipulation of the neck, including the action of a hickey, can cause the inner wall of the carotid artery to rupture. (This process is medically termed as carotid artery dissection).
Such a dissection is a nidus, a place where bacteria can multiply, for the formation of a blood clot. The blood clot can then get dislodged and enter the brain circulation, eventually causing a stroke.
While there is nothing wrong with giving or receiving love bites, it is imperative to note that one should not dig their teeth too deeply into the other person's neck to avoid injury and damage to sensitive structures like the carotid artery or the jugular vein (a vein that carries deoxygenated blood from the skull to the body).
While there are practically no ways to cure a hickey, you can speed up the healing process. These processes can help you expedite the process:
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Ten-year-old Myla from the UK's North Yorkshire, with severe eye strain, was diagnosed with a severe brain tumor that led to her death.
The young girl had been suffering from headaches and dizziness, which were dismissed as mere eye strain due to playing on her iPad too much.
Thinking that she needed eyeglasses, her parents took her for an eye appointment, where she was diagnosed with an aggressive diffuse midline glioma — a type of brain tumor.
Myla was diagnosed with a 7-10cm tumor and was rushed to Sheffield Children's Hospital for an operation to remove 60 per cent of the mass. The youngster underwent a grueling 30 rounds of radiotherapy but tragically passed away on January 15, The Mirror.co.uk reported.
Healthandme spoke to health experts to understand the role of eye strain and brain tumors.
The health experts noted that although prolonged exposure to digital screens can raise the risk of vision problems, they cannot cause brain tumors.
"Eye strain is most commonly linked to prolonged screen use, poor ergonomics, or uncorrected vision, and in the vast majority of cases, it is not a sign of brain cancer," Dr. Parul Maheshwari Sharma, Ophthalmologist and Principal Director & HOD - at Fortis Gurugram, told HealthandMe.
"The likelihood of experiencing eye strain being an indication of brain cancer is minimal," added Dr. Mahipal Singh Sachdev, Chairman & Medical Director, Centre For Sight Group of Eye Hospitals.
The doctors explained that brain tumors are rarely present as simple eye strain; they are usually associated with additional symptoms such as:
Eye strain, also referred to as digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome, is caused by staring at screens for extended periods of time and decreased blinking.
It generally occurs due to benign factors such as excessive screen time, dry eye, or uncorrected vision.
While prolonged screen use can cause discomfort, dry eyes, and temporary blurred vision, it does not lead to the development of cancer.
"There is no evidence to suggest that screen-induced eye strain can cause brain tumors," Dr Sharma said.
"Although there may be visual changes due to a tumor that involves the optic nerve or hypothalamus, simple eye strain is not indicative of brain tumors and would not be considered an early warning of a brain tumor. There is an extremely low probability that eye strain will be due to a brain tumor," Dr. Sachdev told HealthandMe.
However, the experts agreed that long screen time can lead to severe eye strain.
Brain tumors are generally attributed to genetics, exposure to radiation, or other unknown factors.
Numerous types of red flags could indicate the presence of a serious neurological disorder. Some examples include
Higher-risk patients include:
To help combat eye fatigue, individuals can adopt some simple habits, such as
Dehydration can lead to poor concentration in women. (Photo credit: iStock)
Ladies, does it ever happen to you that you are not on your period, not PMSing, and still feel moody and upset? Well, as it turns out, experts say that there could be a very simple reason for this. According to researchers at the University of Connecticut, even mild dehydration could be responsible for mood changes in women. Not only this, even 1.36 per cent dehydration can affect your mood, ability to think and energy levels. The Daily Mail notes that a loss of 1.5 per cent of normal water volume levels in the body can be classified as mild dehydration, and its adverse effects can linger for some time.
Read more: The Health Problems Women Normalise, But Gynaecologists Do Not
In women, the adverse effects of dehydration can be serious. Experts say that the effects are more intense in women, and they came to this conclusion after analysing the results of tests, which revealed that it does not matter if a person walks for 40 minutes on a treadmill or is in a state of rest — if an individual is even slightly thirsty, the adverse effects will be the same.
Research shows that even 1.36 per cent dehydration is enough to cause the following problems:
Is thirst the same as dehydration?
Lead researcher of the study, Lawrence Armstrong, noted that a sensation of thirst does not appear until a person is one or two per cent dehydrated. By then, it starts to set in and act up, adversely impacting how the mind and body perform. Dehydration can affect everyone, which is why it is just as important for people in desk jobs to stay hydrated as it is for marathon runners.
Read more: Three Health Checks Every Woman Should Do Each Month, According To Experts
In this research, experts put participants through a series of tests evaluating their concentration, vigilance, reaction time, reasoning, memory and learning. The results were then compared with those of people who were not dehydrated. In younger women, mild dehydration resulted in fatigue, headaches and concentration difficulties. Women also found basic tasks more difficult to execute than usual. On the other hand, young men noted some difficulty in performing mental tasks — they experienced anxiety, fatigue and tension in the process. Mood changes were more prominent in women than in men.
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