SMOKING

The Health Risks of Smoking It is estimated that smoking is involved in 85% of all lung cancer deaths. Smoking also accounts for 30% of heart disease deaths. Smoking cigarettes is said to be responsible for over 80% of all chronic pulmonary diseases. Despite these alarming percentages that smoking is related to the cause of poor health and even death, millions of Americans still light up every day. Not only are smokers putting themselves at a risk for harmful effects, but they also endanger non-smokers with their passive smoking; also known as second hand smoke. In the U.S. 53,000 deaths per year are a direct result of passive smoking. More than half of these are from cardiovascular desease. The risks are the same for second hand smokers as for smokers themselves. Children often are the silent victims. The carbon monoxide from passive smoke can be deadly for young children. Within the first year of life, children of parents who smoke are more frequently hospitalized for bronchitis and pneumonia. Infants are more vulnerable to second hand smoke and many develop cancers when they are older. Alergies, asthma and heart problems are also seen in children who have parents who smoke. Even minor reprecutions such as cough and phlegm or repeated ear infections are evident as well. Parents are even being considered of inflicting child abuse if smoking takes place in the home. Health issues for women are just as alarming. Women who smoke are at a risk for low birth weight babies or infant mortality. Breast milk also often smells like cigarette smoke. Also seen are complications of oral contraceptive use. Women account for 14.3 million Americans that smoke. The leading causes of death for women are lung cancer and surpassed breast cancer, which is directly related to smoking.