Second hand smoke - passive smoking dangers
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Cigarette smoking kills almost half a million people every year in the United States alone. This is mostly due to the potent nature of the nicotine compound that is present in tobacco and its other derivatives. Nicotine stimulates the brain, causing the user to feel a sense of light-headedness and a relaxation coupled with bouts of hyper-alertness. This high can last up to a few hours. Ardent smokers no longer feel this way and thus they smoke more and more in order to achieve the same high. More research into cigarette smoke has revealed another equally dangerous phenomenon; second-hand smoke. This is the smoke that is exhaled by smokers and ends up being inhaled by non-smokers who in turn develop the same health complications as if they were smokers.
Because of the dangers of second-hand smoke, many Governments worldwide are pushing legislation that outlaws smoking in public places and even public vehicles such as buses, trams and trains. As we shall see, there are many hazards associated with second hand smoke.
There are close to 400,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia reported among infants and toddlers whose parents smoke. Even though they themselves never smoked a single cigarette, the statistics rank the damage to their health the same as that of smokers if not more.
Children who are born of parents who smoke run a heavy risk of developing ear problems, coughing, wheezing, respiratory complications and even death. Second hand smoke also increases the chances of asthma. This is because second hand smoke has far reaching effects including unborn children
Research now reveals that children born of parents who are chronic smokers are twice as likely to smoke later on in life, than children born to non-smokers. Second hand smoke can actually remain in the child’s system and cause mild addictions to nicotine even before the child becomes a teenager.
Image via Wikipedia With all that said, perhaps nothing matches the harm that second hand smoke does than to unborn babies and foetuses. Pregnant women who are chronic smokers or who live in an environment heavily saturated with cigarette smoke are more likely to give birth to babies whose overall health is lower than the average. Their weight may be low and their ability to learn and develop new skills is impaired. The World Health Organization is also reporting second hand smoke kills over 4000 babies each year which are born with respiratory problems.
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May 29th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWith all that said, perhaps nothing matches the harm that second hand smoke does than to unborn babies and fetuses. Pregnant women who are chronic smokers or who live in an environment heavily saturated with cigarette smoke are more … [...]