Ifi Tapaka: Takanga ‘a Pipi mo Kahi

The experiences that our ancestors had during their navigational years are very informative and educational that we should refer to them often as a guide in our own navigational time, here and now. They learned the nature of the clams in the ocean, natively known as fingota, their nutritive effects, where they are found and the dangers that are associated with collecting them. Two of the most popular ones are pipi and kahi clams and you can not pick up one without picking up the other unintentionally. However, there is a hidden danger in the fellowship of pipi and kahi clams though they may seem to be living in harmony with each other. Our ancestors observed that sometimes in the fellowship, kahi clams will eat or destroy the pipi clams. The danger in this fellowship has been well established for over 2,000 years by our ancestors. This type of fellowship seems to express itself in a different formation but with similar results. Smokers and cancer is the modern version of the fellowship of pipi and kahi that our ancestors had warned us about.

Cigarette smoking has been established for over decades to cause different types of diseases and cancers of the oral cavities, lungs, nasal cavities, esophagus, larynx, pharynx, pancreas, liver, kidney, stomach, urinary tract and cervix. How does smoking cause cancer? Cigarette smoking contains many carcinogens (cancer causing agent) that when inhaled travel to and interact with DNA molecules in the lungs (for example) to form what is known as DNA adduct. DNA adduct is equivalent to having the blueprint to your house that is going to be build being folded in half and strongly glued together much like Piki a feke which makes it unworkable. As such, you can not open it up to see the instructions for all the dimensions of the walls, roofs, windows and the details of all the rooms inside. In reality, the DNA adducts contributed to all sorts of mutations which later form cancers in the lungs, and other organs in the body. Do you like to have cancers from smoking cigarette? If you don’t, then quit smoking right now for your health’s sake and for the sake of your loved ones that are depending on you for their survival.

Cigarette smoking causes bad breathe. This is devastating if you are a single male looking for a future mate or vice versa. It is even worse if you are married. I can not imagine your spouse kissing you with all the carcinogens loaded in your mouth and not to mention the bad breathe. Perhaps this type of kissing is best described in another fellowship known as “the kiss of death.” You will probably chew a lot of gum which do nothing but masking the smells yet the carcinogens are still there, much like Nimo ‘i talafau (it may seems lost but is still there), causing DNA adducts in many organs of your body. Tar and nicotine (from the cigarette that you smoke) tend to build up on your mouth surfaces such as tongue, teeth and sides of your cheeks. Consequently, smoking also dries the mouth by inhibiting the flowing of saliva from the salivary glands which in turns lead to the accelerating growth of bacteria in your mouth causing bad breath. Furthermore, smoking can also exacerbate gum diseases and your sinus conditions which will also lead to bad breath. Do you like having bad breath? I hope that you don’t so quit smoking now for the sake of your oral health.

Cigarette smoking can cause abnormal blood clotting. The clotting mechanism is tightly regulated in the body since it can save us from bleeding to death (when you have a cut) but if it is altered, can also cause several life threatening and cardiovascular health problems. Clotting is much like patching a hole in a broken water pipe until a permanent plug is installed. In the body, clotting involves the aggregation of platelets (cells use for patching) to the side of blood vessels involved in the injury to temporary plug it so that you do not bleed to death. Researches have shown that about 60% of lung cancer patients have abnormal, elevated platelets that often aggregate in the middle of the blood vessels (even though no damage has occurred) causing a reduction in the blood flow that can cause a rise in your blood pressure which may be enough to damage the most delicate blood vessels as frequently observed in many of the pa kalava and stroke patients. Do you like to have pa kalava for a fellowship? If you don’t, then please quit smoking now to avoid the development of abnormal platelets aggregation and for your health’s sake.

Cigarette smoking causes an imbalance in the amount of hormones in the body. Hormones are important because it is a mean of communication in the body so that a state of homeostasis is achieved for maximum health benefits. Smoking effects on hormone has been established in the scientific communities which had shown that women smokers do enter menopause at an average age of 5 years earlier than nonsmokers. Concomitantly, women smokers’ early entrance to menopause also leads to other health problems such as an increase in the risk of osteoporosis. This is why older women smokers have frequent hip fractures when they fall because their bones are much weaker than when they were young. In like manner, nicotine from smoking causes an imbalance in the hormones involved in women’s reproduction which can have a huge effect in the number of children that a couple can have. Likewise, for male smokers, nicotine also affects the production and mobility of their sperm cells. The reduction in the production and mobility of their sperm cells will also affect the pregnancy process and consequently the number of children that they might be able to father. Do you have a feeling yet for the dangers involved in the fellowship between smoking and hormonal imbalance? If you don’t then your nerve cells have been severely damaged as a result of being a member of this fellowship. Dissolve this fellowship now and proclaim your liberty from smoking and its negative effects on your hormone levels.

Cigarette smoking affects our normal brain functions. It is often said that we only use part of our brain but how awful it is to think that smoking cigarette will further reduce the part of our brain that we are currently use. So if we are only using 50% of our brain (for example) to start with and also smoking cigarette-what does that leave us with to use? It is no wonder why some smokers can not even think logically or even strategically because their normal brain functioning have been either altered or destroyed. Alright let’s get serious now! The brain is sort of like the CPU of the body, for the computer wiz people, but it has a lot of nerves in them for processing of all the information’s related to the normal functioning of the body as a whole. It controls our mood and conscious thought, most of our voluntary movements, feeling and thinking processes. The brain gets its oxygen and food supplies from the lungs and heart and in return getting rid of its metabolic waste products so that it will continue to function optimally. Some researches have shown that nicotine in cigarette reaches the brain cells in about 10 seconds after a smoke is inhaled. Smoking cigarette (and its carcinogen contents) interfere with chemical messengers and information processing in the brain which leads to alteration in the smoker’s mood and thinking processes to name a few. It has also been shown that nicotine in small amount tend to stimulate the brain (not a good way) while large dosage of nicotine acts as a depressant (not good either), affecting the heart normal functions, blood vessels’ plasticity and also your hormone levels as previously discussed above. Carbon monoxide from smoking makes it harder for the red blood cells to carry oxygen to the brain and other organs of the body. This is because tars from cigarette are a mixture of chemicals that form a “sticky mass” in your lungs thus decreasing the ability of your lungs to function efficiently. In fact, most of the chemicals that you inhale from cigarette smoking stay in the lungs. Basically, the more cigarettes’ smoke you inhale, the more “sticky mass” of chemicals will accumulate in your lungs, leading to greater damages in the lungs alveoli (site where gas exchanges occur). Is it a surprise then to you that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer? It is hard enough to think clearly these days but why are we making the thinking process harder by smoking cigarette? Let’s dissolve this dangerous fellowship now for the sake of your brain health?

Mou tokanga mai! (Attention Please!) Take a look at the chemicals present in cigarette and think hard, really hard and smart with your brains about the fellowship that you have entered into. It has been established that there are over 4,000 chemicals present in cigarette. Moreover, it includes about 43 known carcinogen compounds and about 400 toxins known to humans including nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic and DDT. Wow! That is a lot of deadly chemicals packed into one small package with foreseeable, deadly consequences. It reminds me of a Tongan paloveape known as Si’isi’i ‘a pakihi-it appears to be small but is deadly when it hits you. Why do we avoid chemicals with labels “toxins” and/or “carcinogens” but when it comes to smoking some ignore them regardless of the accumulating scientific evidences because they do not have the labels “toxins” and/or “carcinogens” outside the package.

To the youth of Polynesia, you are descendants of a glorious and illustrious people that we referred to them as our ancestors. They are not in the past but in front of you, leading and guiding your paths towards a higher ground if you let them. A ground that is full of faith and hope to look forward to a glorious harvest in the future if you use them. A ground that is fertile, ready to plant your seed of hard work for a better world. A ground that can only be plowed and farmed by those who are willing to exclude themselves from this modern fellowship of pipi and kahi where dangers will be your constant companion. Smoking cigarette has never been and never will make you look cool so don’t fall into the lies and deceits that have been perpetrated by some. Consider the following points of health consequences. (1) Health consequences of smoking include respiratory and nonrespiratory effects, development of addiction to nicotine and an increase in the likelihood of using other type of illegal drugs. All of which leads you to unfertile grounds where the harvest consists of only pain and heartache. (2)Smoking cigarette leads to inefficient lung functioning and will retard its growth compared to nonsmoking youth. If you are involved in sports, do yourself a favor by not smoking at all so that you do not jeopardize your performances or your endurance level. The world of sports is full of competitors and you should compete in your utmost healthy state. Being healthy without the cigarette odor, yellow teeth and yellow fingers do look cool. Your ancestors were people of great courage, strong will and determination that you can look to for your own courage, strong will and determination to quit smoking now for a healthier you and concomitantly a better tomorrow.

The amounts of scientific studies including human clinical trials had proven that smoking is bad for your health. People who died from cigarette smoking has become too numerous to count, graveyards has been too numerous to dig, and lots of loved ones will be without you because of your selfishness, yet few have heeded the warnings from doctors and health professionals much like the Tongan paloveape known as Matangi lelei to ki he la mahaehae (Good winds fall on torn sails). I hope that the evidences presented here will be enough to convince you of the danger that is looming in the horizon from this fellowship of smoking and cancer. Better yet, the evidences discussed here should convince you to listen to our ancestors-for they always speak the truth and the health professionals so that you can avoid being inducted as a member of this modern fellowship of pipi and kahi. In all, cancers end up destroying or eating the smokers much like kahi and pipi clams in the old fellowship that was so eloquently described by our illustrious ancestors long ago.