By: Luke Frankel
Hey guys, these past few weeks has been absolutely insane regarding all the stuff going on around the world and in my life. School has been tough and I’ve been dealing with a lot of issues finding motivation in my life. This week we learned about Alcohol and Tobacco’s deleterious effects on the body.
The first thing I want to talk about on this subject is that alcohol and tobacco have been used for many years as recreational “drugs”, self medication, medications ,etc. Tobacco as of late has been under fire for hiding research suggesting it is dangerous, and also pushing an addiction on people. “36 million Americans age 18 and older reported having used tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, and pipe tobacco) at least once in the past month” (Donatelle 152). Tobacco is highly prevalent in our society, and alcohol is much the same.
The second topic I want to mention is the danger of alcohol among college students. This quote speaks volumes, “In the last year, nearly 33 percent of college students who drank reported doing something they later regretted; 28 percent forgot where they were or what they did due to intoxication; just over 21 percent had unprotected sex; and 12.4 percent accidentally injured themselves” (Donatelle 154). These facts are staggering, and as a student I can attest that these experiences are not false whatsoever. If you are not the statistic, you know someone who is or was. We need to take these facts with seriousness and show others than binge drinking and alcohol poisoning are serious problems, especially in campuses.
The last topic I want to speak about is tobacco usage, specifically the horrible effects it has on your body. According to the book ,”Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that tobacco smoking causes 90 percent of all cases of lung cancer in men and 78 percent of cases in women” (Donatelle 172). Those statistics are horrible especially when you learn that there are roughly 1,200 deaths A DAY from tobacco related cancer. Anecdotally, I have seen many anti-tobacco adds since I have been young, and the frequency seems to be increasing. However, there are still so many new cases of tobacco related cancer, and it is highly preventable.
This week my goals have not been met. I gained a bunch of weight since the quarantine started and I have not been able to focus. My parents are older and have so many medical health issues that we have to be extremely safe about even just the groceries I bring back for them. The stress has been at an all time high and I’m just trying to hold on without the stress relief of the gym. I have not been able to really work on my ankle mobility because I do have the required resources like bands and platforms at home.
This is not my photo, but I could not think of anything to post right now. At least it can be something that gets my point across.
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