Secondhand Smoking - How Does it Affect Your Health?

Inhalation of smoke from cigarettes or tobacco products is called passive or secondhand smoking. If you chose not to smoke to live a healthy life, you made the right choice. But you also have to be aware that secondhand smoking is harmful. Yes, studies have proven that secondhand type of smoking can be just as harmful as active smoking.

Smoking causes many types of cancer. This is because tobacco products contain many carcinogenic substances. And once burned, the smoke from tobacco products now contains the carcinogenic substances. Secondhand smoking increases the risk of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30%. Around 3,400 nonsmokers die from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoking.

Constriction of blood vessels is also caused by substances in smoke from tobacco products. This results to diseases like heart disease, atherosclerosis, heart attack, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. Secondhand type of smoking increases the risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30%.

Secondhand type of smoking can cause cognitive disease and dementia in adults who are 50 years old and above.

Smoking while pregnant is highly discouraged. This increases the likelihood of a miscarriage and premature birth. And infants borne by smoking mothers are usually low birth weight or small for gestational age. These can lead to other problems like jaundice and breathing difficulties.

Secondhand type of smoking has also been proven to delay child development. Sudden infant death syndrome is also a result of secondhand smoking. In the United States, 430 infants die every year because of sudden infant death syndrome caused by secondhand smoking.

Secondhand type of smoking causes different diseases in children. These can be any of the following: asthma, developmental delay, impaired motor skills, ear diseases, lung diseases, bronchitis, allergies, learning problems, and neurobehavioral disorders.

Smoking in such a way is estimated to kill 53,000 nonsmokers per year! If you are a smoker, consider how much harm you are causing other people. Quit smoking now! If you are a nonsmoker, always see to it that you are not exposed to cigarette smoke. Remember that secondhand type of smoking is just as harmful as active smoking!