Smoking and inhaling secondhand smoke exposes a person to life-threatening diseases. The more you smoke or are exposed to those who smoke, the more likely you will suffer disease and death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates 443,000 deaths can be traced to smoking each year with a cost of $193 billion.
Heart Disease
According to the American Heart Association (AHA), 135,000 people die of smoking-related cardiovascular disease yearly. The American Cancer Society (ACS) notes that more than 46,000 of them are non-current smokers whose deaths are due to secondhand smoke or because they once smoked. Both smokers and non-smokers suffer immediate harmful effects to blood circulation--less oxygen in the blood--and damaged heart function leading to heart disease. Mayo Clinic staff warn damaged blood vessels and the risk of forming blood clots are among the dangers from both first- and secondhand smoke.
Lung Cancer
As many as 60 different poisonous substances are present in tobacco smoke and contribute to lung cancer. Nearly 160,000 people died of lung cancer in 2008 according to the ACS, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that secondhand smoke kills about 3,000 people with lung cancer per year. Lung cancer also may be linked to breast cancer.
Other Cancers
The ACS warns that tobacco smoking increases the risk of mouth cancer, lip cancer, nose and sinus cancers, and larynx, pharynx and esophageal cancers. Smoking also causes cancers of the stomach, pancreas, kidney and bladder, as well as uterine cervix cancer and acute myeloid leukemia.
Childhood Respiration Problems
Children are especially susceptible to disease from secondhand smoke. The EPA website warns that secondhand smoke increases asthma attacks and severity of asthma symptoms for the 200,000 to 1 million children who are exposed to secondhand smoke each year. Secondhand smoke causes between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children under 18 months and triggers 15,000 to 30,000 hospitalizations yearly.
SIDS, Other Childhood Diseases
Smoking contributes to low birth weight in newborns and the likelihood of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). According to the Mayo Clinic, smoking increases the risk of SIDS both during pregnancy and soon after birth. More middle ear infections, nose and eye irritations, chronic coughing and wheezing are also attributed to secondhand smoke in the home.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Slightly Lower Adult Smoking Rates
- American Heart Association: Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease
- American Cancer Society: Tobacco-Related Cancers Fact Sheet
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Health Effects of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke
- Mayo Clinic: Secondhand Smoke
