Contents:
- Medical Video: Smoking Causes Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema
- The danger of cigarette smoke for passive smokers
- The danger of cigarette smoke for children and pregnant women
- What can be done to prevent the dangers of cigarette smoke for passive smokers?
Medical Video: Smoking Causes Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema
It seems almost everyone knows the dangers of smoking. You must be familiar with the warning slogan of the danger of smoking which says "smoking can cause cancer, heart attack, impotence, disorders of pregnancy and the fetus". But do you know the dangers of smoking not only haunt smokers, but also those around them who don't smoke because they take in cigarette smoke. This is the danger of secondhand smoke for passive smokers.
The danger of cigarette smoke for passive smokers
Many people think that being a passive smoker is safe. This assumption is wrong.Even if you don't smoke, being in an environment full of cigarette smoke can still have a negative effect on your body that is the same as the smoker itself.
The danger of secondhand smoke from secondhand smoke is caused by nicotine and other poisons contained in cigarette smoke.Although not always visible, but the smoke exhaled after smoking has a more dangerous effect than the smoke inhaled by smokers. This smoke is formed by very small particles so that it is more easily inhaled by other people around it.
Passive smoking also has the potential to get cancer like active smokers. In addition to lung cancer, passive smokers are also susceptible to other cancers such as:
- Laryngeal cancer
- Throat cancer
- Nasal cancer (nasal sinuses)
- Brain cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Rectal cancer
- Gastric cancer
- Breast cancer
Cigarette smoke has been confirmed as a cause of cancer in humans. Cigarette smoke inhaled by passive smoking is the main cause of lung cancer in people who are not smokers. The risk of lung cancer increases by 20-30% in non-smokers but is always surrounded by cigarette smoke, compared to non-smokers who are not exposed to smoke.
Evidence shows that cigarette smoke can be a cause of nasal sinus cancer and breast cancer in women who are not yet menopausal, but more research is still needed to support this.
Besides cancer, Passive smoking is also equally risky for heart disease like active smokers. Even though they have never smoked before, passive smoking can experience an increased risk of heart disease by around 25-30% compared to non-smokers who have never been exposed to cigarette smoke.
Smoke inhaled cigarettes will enter the blood and affect the lining of the blood vessels so that the blood thickens and more easily freezes. As a result, blood flow becomes blocked. Carbon monoxide from cigarette smoke then binds oxygen in the blood, reducing oxygen flow to the heart and muscles. With reduced oxygen, short-term or permanent damage to the heart and tissues can occur more easily.
In a few years, passive smokers will have a buildup of fat in the walls of blood vessels which eventually hardens into plaque. Narrowing of blood vessels aka atherosclerosis can cause heart attacks and strokes.
The danger of cigarette smoke for children and pregnant women
Cigarette smoke is very dangerous for children and pregnant women, because it can harm the baby in the womb.
Children who are exposed to cigarette smoke are susceptible to:
- Respiratory infections (brhinitis, pneumonia, and lung tract infections).
- Sudden asthma attack.
- Ear infections.
- Chronic cough.
- Lymphoma.
- Blood cancer.
- Brain tumor.
- Weakened body resistance.
Inhaling cigarette smoke during pregnancy can cause:
- Babies born prematurely.
- Low birth weight.
- Babies die suddenly.
- Mental disability.
- Learning disability.
- ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome).
What can be done to prevent the dangers of cigarette smoke for passive smokers?
The more you are exposed to cigarette smoke, the higher the risk of the disease.
The only thing you can do is keep yourself and your family away from cigarette smoke as much as possible. If there are people closest to you who smoke, ask that he not smoke around other people.
