Smoking tobacco and inhaling secondhand smoke can both cause a number of diseases. Even if you don't smoke, being in a home or work environment where others smoke increases your risk of disease and death. The American Heart Association warns that even though as of 2009 there were smoking bans in 30 states, from 25 to 40 percent of people in the United States wind up breathing secondhand smoke. The American Cancer Society states that one in five deaths are smoking related. The more you are exposed to smoking, the greater your risk of disease and death.
Lung Cancer
Primary and secondary smoke causes cancer. The American Cancer Society states that nearly 160,000 people in the United States died of lung cancer in 2008. Secondhand smoke kills about 3,000 people per year with lung cancer, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Many toxins are in tobacco smoke, with 60 poisonous substances found even in second-hand smoke that cause lung cancer.
Other Cancers
Tobacco use causes other cancers besides lung cancer. The ACS states that tobacco smoking (and other forms of tobacco use like chewing and sniffing) increases the risk of mouth cancer, lip cancer, nose and sinus cancers, larynx, pharynx and esophageal cancers. Other cancers caused by smoking tobacco include stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, uterine cervix cancer and acute myeloid leukemia.
Heart Disease
More people die of heart disease from smoking than from lung cancer. The ACS states that more than 46,000 nonsmokers die each year from secondhand smoke because they live with a smoker. Both smokers and nonsmokers experience immediate harmful effects to blood circulation (less oxygen in the blood) and heart function, resulting in heart disease. Mayo Clinic staff warn that damaged blood vessels and the risk of forming blood clots are among the dangers from first and secondhand smoke.
Childhood Breathing Problems
Growing children risk susceptibility to disease from secondhand smoke. The EPA website states that the rates of asthma attacks and severity of asthma symptoms are increased by secondhand smoke for 200,000 to 1 million children each year. Secondhand smoke causes between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children less than 18 months in age and results in between 15,000 and 30,000 hospitalizations yearly.
Low Birth Weight, SIDS
Smoking increases the likelihood of low birth weight in newborns and the possibility of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Mayo Clinic staff say smoking and secondhand smoke increase the risk of SIDS both during pregnancy and after birth. Children who live in a home with smokers also have more middle ear infections. More children exposed to secondhand smoke also have nose and eye irritations, chronic coughing and wheezing.
