Studies indicate that while the current smoking habits are maintained, nearly half of the Americans who smoke will die in less than a period of one year (World Health Organization, 2015). Therefore, the paper below presents a discussion on the health problems associated with smoking among adult males in the United States, precisely in Dallas city in Texas. The topic on “Adult Male and Smoking” is crucial in creating awareness among adult male smokers as well as highlighting the most disturbing long-term effects of smoking, such as developing heart diseases, emphysema, asthma, and increased mortality and morbidity among the smokers. The discussion will further extend to the basic strategies of educating adult male smokers on the long-term health problems associated with smoking. The research findings and materials presented in the paper will be based on the World Health Organization (WHO), the United States Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017), the rate of adult male smoking in Texas was cited to be at 19.2%. This translates to mean that the number of mortalities is equally more than half of the percentage, taking into account the second-hand smoking. Since the publication of Surgeon General’s report on tobacco in 1964, more than 20 million Americans have died out of smoking (Sphor, Nandy, Gandhiraj, Vemulapalli & Walters 2015). On the one hand, smoking potentially leads to alterations in male sex hormones. The alteration of the male hormones endangers man’s ability to enjoy sexual activities as well as jeopardizing the ability to have a family. On the other end, smoking among adult males leads to potential erectile dysfunction and a significant risk of impotence. The nicotine contained in the cigarettes causes vasospasm (a constriction of penile arteries), affecting the blood flow to the erectile tissues. Therefore, smoking affects fertility in males by decreasing the health of the sperms and altering the hormones. Smoking exposes men to higher levels of metals such as cadmium and lead, which results in infertility. While comparing the lead levels in infertile and fertile men who smoke, higher lead levels have been found in infertile men compared to the fertile men.
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One of the most effective ways of addressing adult male smoking is by encouraging people to stop smoking (World Health Organization, 2015). The efforts to encourage males from tobacco use can be initiated in different healthcare institutions and the social interaction media who have much influence in society. To begin with, clinicians are the frontline agents for gearing smoking cessation in the community. Nurses and other healthcare providers have reliable and professional power to lure patients into changing their smoking habits for their health safety. Most people feel safe with physicians, and they are willing to admit the health counseling to their medical problems associated with smoking. Notably, it is hard for the general people to lure smokers from their smoking habits because most smokers are addicted, and they need professional personnel to help them throughout the addiction. Therefore, doctors should accept their role of advising patients in addition to treating the manifested diseases.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (2019), the importance of structuring strategies to reduce smoking among male adults is to conduct successful smoking cessation strategies for adult males. Additionally, the information gathered will assist in curbing the cancer-related morbidities and mortalities resulting from smoking. According to the statistics carried out by the American Cancer Society in 2016, tobacco leads to high levels of prostate and lung cancer, where 23% of African American males in the United States die in the following order: One out of every 23 African Americans die from prostate cancer and one out of every 16 African Americans die from lung cancer (Bashir, 2015). The male smokers should be educated on the effects of cigarettes and how the tar from the cigarettes enters their blood resulting in poisoning in the circulation. Second-hand smoking is as well cited as a leading contributor to heart diseases, and therefore, through guided healthcare, there will be a reasonable decrease in smoking-related diseases. By raising awareness of the dangers of smoking, there is a potential reduction of the smoking habits in Texas and hence resulting in a decrease in the death rate caused by smoking.
Healthy People 2020 creates an environment for action to minimize tobacco use by a reasonable percentage that would make it insignificant as a public health problem. The goal of the initiative in Texas is to reduce death, disabilities, and diseases caused by firsthand and second-hand smoking exposure to reduce smoking habits, mostly in males. Health People 2020 develops effective strategies that will help in reducing the availability of tobacco in the community. Some of the measures in the framework include the enactment of smoke-free policies to make it illegal and to increase the cost of tobacco products and the tax. Also, strategies involve restricting/banning tobacco advertisements on social media and widening cessation treatment in healthcare institutions to provide medical services to the already addicted people. Additionally, the initiative aims at restricting the access of tobacco products by young adults to bring up a productive generation. Generally, these approaches will be able to reduce the smoking habits in Texas.
The health promotion strategies are banning public smoking, motivational interviewing, and health warnings on tobacco products. To begin with, Health warnings on tobacco products are behavioral approaches that create a long-term effect on the choices that people make. Providing alternative incentives and counseling would be a perfect way of smoking cessation among adult males in Texas. Motivational interviewing (MI) is another strategy involving the client-centered approach to instill a positive behavioral change as well as resolving ambivalence. Though MI, there is an increased probability of male smokers attempting to quit smoking for good. Besides, second-hand smoking exposes non-direct smokers to health issues that are not their choice. Notably, smoking in public increases the second-hand smokers. Therefore, banning public smoking will significantly reduce the side effects of second-hand smoking and create a healthy living environment.
In conclusion, smoking among adult males imposes serious health issues such as prostate cancer, heart and lung diseases, and even death. The Healthy People 2020 initiative provides interventions for ensuring zero tolerance for tobacco in the Leading Health Indicators (LHI) indicators, under “reproductive and sexual health.” Some of the efforts under the Healthy People 2020 initiative include enacting smoke-free policies, increasing the price of tobacco products, and enhancing cessation treatment in healthcare institutions. The health promotion strategies applied include banning public smoking from restricting the second-hand smoking issue, high taxation of smoking products, and health warnings on tobacco products.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Tobacco use: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) . Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/tobacco.htm
DiGiulio, A., Haddix, M., Jump, Z., Babb, S., Schecter, A., Williams, K. A. S., … Armour, B. S. (2016). State Medicaid Expansion Tobacco Cessation Coverage and Number of Adult Smokers Enrolled in Expansion Coverage - United States, 2016. MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, 65(48), 1364–1369. Retrieved from: https://doi-org.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6548a2
Healthy People 2020 (2019) Tobacco Use. Retrieved from: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/tobacco-use
Jamal, A., Phillips, E., Gentzke, A. S., Homa, D. M., Babb, S. D., King, B. A., & Neff, L. J. (2018). Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults - United States, 2016. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 67(2), 53–59. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6702a1
Sphor SA., Nandy R, Gandhiraj D., Vemulapalli A., Walters S.T. (2015). Efficacy of SMS text message interventions for smoking cessation: A meta-analysis. J Subst. Abuse Treat.
United States Department of Health and Human Services (2019). Tobacco Reports and Publications. Retrieved from: https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/tobacco/index.html
World Health Organization. (2015). WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2015: raising taxes on tobacco . World Health Organization. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/tobacco/global_report/2015/en/
