Friday 16 October 2015

SECONDHAND TOBACCO SMOKE (the darkest side to active and passive smokers)

Smoking almost affects every organ in the body. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in UK and second most cause of death in U.S after cardiovascular diseases. WHO estimates that tobacco causes 6 million deaths every year with 600, 000 of these deaths occurring among non-smokers due to second hand smoke. 
Secondhand smoke is smoke that comes from a lit end of a cigarette, cigar or pipe. Also exhaled smoke by smokers is also second hand smoke and it poses great health risks to the smoker and non-smokers.

According to American Cancer Society, secondhand smoke is a known to cause cancer. Tobacco smoke contains mixture of different gases and particles. It contains more than 7000 chemicals, 250 of the chemicals thought to be harmful to human health and at least 69 are associated with development of cancer. 
Smoking causes cancer of nose, mouth, larynx, trachea, esophagus, throat, lungs, liver, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, cervix, bone marrow, blood, colon and rectum. 

OTHER EFFECTS OF TOBACCO SMOKING TO GENERAL HEALTH.

  • Smoking compromises the body's defense against infections putting active and passive smokers at risk if severe infections. It is also associated with auto-immune diseases like Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. 
  • Smoke is inhaled and rapidly absorbed into the blood causing rapid heart rate. This an also be associated with the carbon monoxide i smoke which compromises the body's ability to carry oxygen and release it to the body cells.
  • Tobacco smoking is associated with increased risk of heart diseases. Its compounds can cause narrowing of blood arteries which later can lead to blockage accounting for heart attack and stroke incidences.
  • Tobacco smoke causes increase in total cholesterol values in the blood. This may lead to high blood pressure.
  • Smoking increases certain blood clotting factors like fibrinogen and platelets which makes blood thick and risk of clot formation. 
  • Male smokers are at risk of developing impotence by 85% as compared to non-smokers.
  • Nicotine in tobacco smoke is thought to interfere with body's ability to synthesize estrogen which affects ovulation. Female smokers have 60% more risk of being infertile than non-smokers.
  • Exposure of pregnant mothers to tobacco smoke increases risk of abortions, low-birth weight and other pregnancy problems.
references.
Secondhand smoke- American Cancer Society. Address: http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smoke
Effects of smoking on your health- U.S Department of Health and Human service. Address: http://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/health-effects/smoking-health/
Health effects of tobacco- Wikipedia. Address: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco
Smoking- MedlinePlus. Adress: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/smoking.html