Smoking is one of the top preventable causes of death in America. Common cancers linked to smoking include throat, lung, mouth, throat, pancreatic, kidney and bladder cancer. Women smokers also carry the risk of gender-specific complications, such as breast cancer, osteoporosis and complications in pregnancy. The Center for Disease Control says that 178,000 women die from smoking-related problems annually. Consider the risks before you or a loved one reaches for the next light.
Lung Cancer: The Smoker's Disease
Your chance of developing lung cancer increases dramatically if you smoking tobacco. Every time you inhale tobacco smoke, it does structural damage to your lung and throat tissues. Chemicals in the smoke can change or damage the DNA in lung and throat tissue. New, altered cells form, which take the place of normal, noncancerous cells. These new cells divide at uncontrollable rates and eventually form tumors. Tumors can grow so large that they can block the air supply to the lungs. The CDC states that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in women are due to smoking.
Increased Risk of Osteoporosis Due to Smoking
In a February 2010 issue of the "Journal of Bone and Mineral Research," scientists A.P. Hermann and colleagues state that tobacco in cigarettes has an adverse effect on bone cells of premenopausal women, and subsequently decreases bone density. This causes osteoporosis, which causes weak bone structure in the body. Smoking also inhibits the production of estrogen, a female hormone that helps protect your bones. As estrogen levels drop, the risk for early-onset menopause increases, which is also a contributor to osteoporosis.
Dangers Related to Smoking and Taking Birth Control
Women who take contraceptives and smoke increase their risk for many health complications. Stopsmoking.com explains that taking a contraceptive and smoking is "one of the worst things you can do for your heart health." You dramatically increase your chances of having a heart attack, high blood pressure and blood clots. Aside from heart-related problems, your chance of having a stroke, gallbladder disease, vision problems or liver tumors also increases if you smoke and take birth control. The risks you take as a smoker in conjunction with contraceptive use are severe and in some cases fatal; as you age, these risk factors also increase in severity.
The Effect of Smoking on the Menstrual Cycle
Tobacco negatively affects the production of estrogen in your body and your hormones directly affect your menstrual cycle. As estrogen and other hormone levels decrease, the function and timing of your menstrual cycle can be altered. The Surgeon General states that smoking increases your chance of dysmenorrhea, or painful menstruation, lack of menstrual periods and menstrual irregularity. Also, women who smoke also experience the onset of menopause at an earlier age than non-smokers. The irregularity of your menstrual cycle and the relationship with your reproductive system can cause ovarian cancer, cervical cancers, vulvar cancer, uterine cancer, endometriosis and osteoporosis. Regulating your period by the cessation of smoking is a critical part of your health as a woman.
Hazardous Effects of Smoking and Childbearing
The CDC reports that "cigarette smoking increases the risk of infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome." Other complications linked to women who smoke prior to or during pregnancy include growth retardation of the child, allergies asthma and respiratory infections. The Surgeon General adds that the effects of a pregnant woman who smokes can include abrupt abortion of the fetus, defects in neural and brain development and facial malformations. Avoiding contact with dangerous chemicals from tobacco smoke can play a major role in the protection, development and health of your baby.
The Benefits of Not Smoking
The immediate and long-term benefits of not smoking include regulated heart rate and blood pressure, improved lung function, decreased risk of various cancers, having safer pregnancies and healthier babies. Most importantly, a sense of self-empowerment and discipline are major rewarding factors for quitting smoking. There are numerous agencies, books, and Internet resources to help you down your path to recovery from tobacco addiction. (See Resources)
