Secondhand smoke: Worse than we thought!

Secondhand smoke is serious business, and should be a concern for anyone who breathes it in. Non-smokers inhaling secondhand smoke share some of the health risks smokers face. But smokers do face the worst of it - the risks of smoking are compounded by breathing cigarette smoke in for a second time. Children and former smokers are especially at risk.

Don't underestimate the dangers. While secondhand smoke may not kill as many people as smoking does, it is toxic and claims thousands of lives every year around the world.

Triple the risk for children

European researchers found that children exposed to secondhand smoke on a daily basis have more than triple the risk of developing lung cancer and an increased risk of developing other respiratory problems later in life than those who grew up in a smoke-free environment.

The study included more than 123,000 people in 10 European countries. These study participants were followed for approximately seven years, during which time they provided information on their exposure to secondhand smoke. Over the study period, 97 study participants developed newly diagnosed lung cancer, 20 developed cancers of the upper respiratory tract and 14 died of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or emphysema.

Results of the Secondhand Smoke Study

The increased lung cancer risk was the most striking - 3.6 times greater for those whose parents smoked. The study found that overall, the risk of all lung diseases was 30 percent higher for those exposed to secondhand smoke in childhood. Predictably, the risk was "consistently higher in former smokers than in those who never smoked," the report said.

Secondhand Smoke Statistics from the EPA

The finding adds to the damage that secondhand smoke is known to affect children. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that secondhand smoke is responsible for 15,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children each year, causing 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations. The EPA also blames secondhand smoke for as many as 1 million asthma attacks in children annually. And secondhand smoke can be more immediately fatal to children. It is blamed for an estimated 1,900 to 2,700 cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in the United States each year.

Controlling Secondhand Smoke in Your Home

Unfortunately, smoking at home cannot be banned. But we can educate smoker to keep them from smoking in front of their children.Dr. Norman Edelman, a consultant on scientific affairs for the American Lung Association, goes further. "If you must smoke, don't smoke in an indoor area that is shared by anyone else," he said.

One important finding of the new study is that the harmful effect of secondhand smoke is much greater in former smokers than nonsmokers, Edelman said. "It gives credence to the idea that total exposure to smoke is a major determinant of damage," he said. "Basically, cigarette smoke is bad no matter how you take it in."

Source: HealthDay.com

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