Risks of Sedentary Lifestyles and Drug Effects
Risks of Sedentary Lifestyles
1. People who are physically inactive have an increased risk of colon and breast cancer. One study showed a 40% decrease in cancer mortality in persons who were physically active compared to those who were inactive.
2. Physical activity helps prevent insulin resistance, the underlying cause of type 2 diabetes. A recent study reported that for every 2 hours that a person watched TV, the risk of type 2 diabetes increased 14%.
3. Regular physical activity helps reduce the risk of cognitive decline. One study reported that there was a 50% reduction in the risk of dementia in older persons who maintained regular bouts of physical activity.
4. People who are sedentary have the highest rate of heart attack. In the Nurses’ Health Study, women who were physically active 3 hours or more per week (half an hour daily) cut their risk of heart attack in half.
5. Stroke, which is often referred to as a brain attack, affects approximately 730,000 people annually. Data from the Aerobics Research Center in Dallas, Texas, found that physically active men lowered their risk of stroke by two-thirds. And in the Nurses’ Health Study, physically active women decreased their risk of stroke by 50%.
6. Lack of physical activity increases the loss of lean muscle tissue, making activities of daily living (dressing and bathing) and instrumental activities of daily living (grocery shopping, performing transfers) much more difficult to perform. Loss of vital lean muscle tissue also makes it more difficult to maintain body weight.
7. Bones, like muscles, require regular exercise to maintain their mineral content and strength. Bone loss progresses much faster in people who are physically inactive.
People who don’t perform regular physical activity are more likely to become depressed. Physical activity is a good way to reduce mood swings and helps a person maintain a sense of emotional well being.
9. People who don’t get regular physical activity are more likely to gain excess weight. One study showed that an hour of walking daily cut the risk of obesity by 24%.
10. People who get regular physical activity have a more efficient immune system, which helps ward off various disease and illnesses such as colds and the flu.
11. Less active and less fit people have a greater risk of developing high blood pressure.
12. Studies show that physically active people are less likely to develop coronary heart disease than those who are inactive. This is even after researchers accounted for smoking, alcohol use, and diet.
Drug’s Effects
Cannabis
SHORT TERM EFFECTS
Short-term memory problems
Severe anxiety, including fear that one is being watched or followed (paranoia)
Very strange behaviour, seeing, hearing or smelling things that aren’t there, not being able to tell imagination from reality (psychosis)
Panic
Hallucinations
Loss of sense of personal identity
Lowered reaction time
Increased heart rate (risk of heart attack)
Increased risk of stroke
Problems with coordination (impairing safe driving or playing sports)
Sexual problems (for males)
Up to seven times more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections than non-users (for females)
LONG-TERM EFFECTS (cannabis)
Decline in IQ (up to 8 points if prolonged use started in adolescent age)
Poor school performance and higher chance of dropping out
Impaired thinking and ability to learn and perform complex tasks
Lower life satisfaction
Addiction (about 9% of adults and 17% of people who started smoking as teens)
Potential development of opiate abuse
Relationship problems, intimate partner violence
Antisocial behaviour including stealing money or lying
Financial difficulties
Increased welfare dependence
Greater chances of being unemployed or not getting good jobs
Respiratory diseases.Cocaine
SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
Loss of appetite
Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature
Contracted blood vessels
Increased rate of breathing
Dilated pupils
Disturbed sleep patterns
Nausea
Hyper stimulation
Bizarre, erratic, sometimes violent behaviour
Hallucinations, hyper excitability, irritability
Tactile hallucination that creates the illusion of bugs burrowing under the skin
Intense euphoria
Anxiety and paranoia
Depression
Intense drug craving
Panic and psychosis
Convulsions, seizures and sudden death from high doses (even one time)
LONG-TERM EFFECTS (cocaina)
Permanent damage to blood vessels of heart and brain
High blood pressure, leading to heart attacks, strokes, and death
Liver, kidney and lung damage
Destruction of tissues in nose if sniffed
Infectious diseases and abscesses if injected
Malnutrition, weight loss
Severe tooth decay
Auditory and tactile hallucinations
Sexual problems, reproductive damage and infertility (for both men and women)
Disorientation, apathy, confused exhaustion
Irritability and mood disturbances
Increased frequency of risky behaviour
Delirium or psychosis
Severe depression
Tolerance and addiction (even after just one use)
Heroin
SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
“Rush”
Slowed breathing
Clouded mental functioning
Nausea and vomiting
Sedation; drowsiness
Hypothermia (body temperature lower than normal)
Coma or death (due to overdose)
LONG-TERM EFFECTS (heroina)
Bad teeth
Inflammation of the gums
Constipation
Cold sweats
Itching
Weakening of the immune system
Coma
Respiratory (breathing) illnesses
Muscular weakness, partial paralysis
Reduced sexual capacity and long-term impotence in men
Menstrual disturbance in women
Inability to achieve orgasm (women and men)
Loss of memory and intellectual performance
Introversion
Depression
Pustules on the face
Loss of appetite
Designer drugs
SHORT-TERM EFFECTS
Impaired judgment
False sense of affection
Confusion
Excitation , Euforia , Sleep problems , Severe anxiety , Paranoia ,Drug cravings , Muscle tension , Faintness and chills or swelling , Involuntary teeth clenching , Blurred vision ,Nausea
LONG-TERM EFFECTS
Long-lasting and permanent brain damage affecting thought and memory
Damage to portions of the brain that regulate critical functions such as learning, sleep and emotion
It is as if the brain switchboard was torn apart, then rewired backwards
Degenerated nerve branches and nerve endings
Depression, anxiety, memory loss
Kidney failure
Haemorrhage
Psychosis
Cardiovascular collapse
Convulsions
Death