Experts confirm: Traditional smoking is the main reason for the increase in death rates

-David Khayat: Innovations, alternative tobacco products, and a “risk reduction” strategy must be adopted to achieve positive results

Amman – The causes of death have changed around the world before, the main causes included infectious diseases and accidents, but with the progress in the health care system, the greatest risk is in diseases continuous non-communication.

In a special experience, Russia is starting to implement its national project to increase the average life expectancy of the population to 78 years by 2030 by addressing non-communicable diseases and unhealthy habits Starting next year, 2025, the Russian government plans to start implementing that project titled “Long and Active Life.” Which was announced by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, last February, during his annual speech to the Federal Assembly.

The average target age is about 5 years above the current average age (about 73.41 years), which requires a new, more flexible approach to the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases, which is now become the main cause of death and disability among Russian citizens.

“According to the World Health Organization, 41 million people die every year from chronic non-communicable diseases, which represent 74% of deaths in the world,” said Alexander Rozanov, director of the Association of Medical Experts on Risk Modification .

Rozanov explained that the majority of deaths are due to chronic non-communicable diseases due to four groups of diseases: cardiovascular diseases, from which 17.9 million people die every year, followed by cancers, which ‘ will cause the death of 9.3 million people. In third and fourth place are chronic respiratory diseases (4.1 million) and diabetes (2 million, including kidney disease caused by diabetes).

The global GDP also loses about 15% every year due to diseases and premature deaths of the world’s population alone, which is several times higher than the potential losses of the economy of the world from the coronavirus pandemic, according to experts from McKinsey Global.

Several Russian studies revealed that an unhealthy lifestyle is the main cause of chronic non-communicable diseases, and according to the biotechnology company Calico Life Sciences, which analyzed the genealogical connections of more than 400 million people, it was found that genes determine life expectancy by only 7%.

Tobacco smoking is the most aggressive risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases, mainly because it causes up to 15 types of cancer, and about 36% of deaths among men diagnosed with cancer are related to this bad habit (smoking). Russia is also one of the top 5 countries in the world where citizens smoke the most cigarettes.
For his part, Reuven Zemlichman, Director of the Brunner Cardiovascular Institute says: “According to the international INTERHEART study, more than 90% of heart attack cases are related to behavioral risk factors such as tobacco smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and excess salt.”

Therefore, one of the most important preventive measures from time to time that the Russian government intends to develop within the special national project is to identify the main risk factors, as well as placing the the people’s memory of the basic principles of a healthy lifestyle, which includes not smoking, not drinking alcohol, exercising, and eating a balanced and varied diet.

The Russian government is focusing on supplementing the existing specific clinical principles with sections on modifying risk factors, including sections on treating nicotine addiction, as well as to control risk factors for the benefit of both parties: the state, the business sector, doctors, and most importantly. , the citizens themselves.”

For his part, the oncologist David Khayyat confirms that 80% of doctors around the world believed, until recently, that nicotine causes cancer, which is completely wrong. Nicotine can lead to addiction, but it does not cause cancer, and the real person involved in cancer due to smoking is the toxic substances that come from the process of burning tobacco, which are released in quantities large when the cigarette is burned.

Dr. Khayat said that “smokeless products” containing nicotine represent a less dangerous alternative to traditional cigarettes if a person does not want to quit smoking completely.

He continued, saying: “If the risk from traditional cigarettes represents 1, the risk from e-cigarettes represents 0.02. In products containing smokeless nicotine – such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco systems – there is no combustion. tobacco, and this is nicotine in its almost pure form.”

Khayyat explained that relying on alternatives is called a “risk reduction strategy”, as it involves reducing the impact of a certain risk on human life and health as much as possible, especially in some issues that cannot be eliminated soon. ”, it was confirmed This strategy is actively applied in different countries.

For example, in the United Kingdom, experts from the Royal College of Physicians published a report entitled “E-cigarettes and risk reduction: a look at the evidence.” The report concludes that electronic tobacco devices remain an important tool for reducing the risks of tobacco use, but it is important to reduce their appeal and access.

The US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products also published reports on low-risk tobacco products last April. The main conclusion of the report was that tobacco products are not completely safe. But burning tobacco products are the most dangerous type of tobacco products. Although other tobacco products that do not produce smoke are considered lower risks than traditional cigarettes.

David Khayat emphasized that the future does not lie in banning products, but in embracing innovations and the concept of reducing risks, indicating that people may not who are suffering from the effects of their habits willing or able to change them. That is why it is so important to rely on the concept of risk reduction in the prevention of non-communicable diseases and flexible measures. Smokeless tobacco products are one of the best tools that can be used to help these people quit smoking.