Health Consequences of Tobacco

 

At the Vermont Department of Health’s web site, find these easy reading fact sheets on Tobacco:

·         Asthma, Smoking and Lung Health

·         Heart health and Smoking

·         General Health and Smoking

·         Women’s Health and Smoking

·         Diabetes, Smoking and Your Heart

www.healthvermont.gov/prevent/tobacco/health_pro.aspx.

 

For example, smoking clogs the arteries of your heart, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke;  smoking low-tar cigarettes does NOT decrease your risk of heart disease; smoking increases the likelihood of getting colds, sore throats and decreases the body’s ability to fight infections.

 

Secondhand Smoke

It is just as important to be aware of the effects of Secondhand Smoke (SHS) as another form of breathing in cancer causing poisons – 250 poisons, 50 of which are cancer causing to be exact.  Secondhand smoke is defined as smoke that has been exhaled from a burning cigarette, cigar or pipe.   Children’s exposure to secondhand smoke causes ear infections, asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath, and increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

 

In nonsmoking adults, secondhand smoke can cause heart disease, and lung cancer.  In fact, 46,000 nonsmoking adults die each year in the United States from heart disease caused by breathing in someone else’s tobacco smoke, and 3,400 nonsmoking adults die from lung cancer due to secondhand smoke (CDC.gov/tobacco [accessed 6/30/10]).