Health Consequences Of Tobacco Smoke In People

by Pierre Marcel

Health Consequences Of Tobacco Smoke In People

Cigarette smoking as well as exposure to second hand tobacco smoke has association with premature death caused due to chronic diseases such as different kinds of cancer, heart diseases and lung diseases. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, smoking is the leading cause of about 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in males and almost 70 percent of deaths in females. The risk of dying of lung cancer is almost 26 times higher among the male of the species that smoke cigarettes. Among women that smoke tobacco cigarettes compared with those who never smoked is about 15 times higher. Apart from that, smoking leads to many diseases including cancers of the bladder, oral cavity, kidney, lung, pancreas, and stomach. It is also the leading causative factor of acute myeloid leukaemia. Also, exposure to cigarette smoke during one’s childhood days makes one prone to respiratory infections, ear infections, and asthma.

According to some of the recent study reports, every year, almost half a million Americans die of diseases related to cigarette smoking. Heart disease is one of the leading reasons for deaths in the United States. Cigarette smokers are four times more likely to contract coronary heart disease when compared to nonsmokers, and smoking doubles a person’s risk of suffering from stroke related illnesses. In addition to that, about 90 percent of all deaths due to chronic obstructive lung diseases can be attributed to cigarette smoking and use of tobacco products. Cigarette smoking has many adverse effects on the reproductive health area. Other bad effects include an increased risk of infertility, pre-term delivery, stillbirths, low birth weight of the infant and the much feared sudden infant death syndrome.

Regardless of the knowledge related to the harmful effects generated by cigarette smoke, cigarettes and other tobacco products account for more than 60 percent of the expenditures on all such products in our country. This point to the fact that even though research studies have provided evidence that cigarette smoke unleash detrimental effects on the smoker’s health, many smokers do not take it seriously. People that want their children to grow up in a healthy and smoke-free environment need to take matters into their own hands. Steps must be taken to decrease the level of cigarette smoke exposure faced by children.

Treat your household as a tobacco-smoke-free zone. If you need to smoke, do so only outside your house. Wear a smoke coat that you must take off before returning inside. Set an example by dining with your child in restaurants that are labelled smoke-free restaurants. Ask your friends and relatives not to smoke in the proximity of your child. Be insistent so that you make your voice heard. Talk to your school going or adolescent children about the bad effects of cigarette smoke and the health consequences. Be honest with them, especially if you happen to be a smoker, and talk about it very often. Take a decision not to smoke; quitting the habit of smoking is not easy, but it is really possible.