The smoke that harms you need not be your own. A unique study recently confirmed the hazards that accompany second hand smoke.
Helena, Montana in 2002 passed an ordinance outlawing smoking in all public places–a ban that was repealed six months later. 

During that six-month smoke-free period, there were only 24 hospital admissions for myocardial infarction (heart attack) compared to an average of 40 admissions for the same six-month period in the other years from 1998 through 2003.

According to the American Heart Association, second hand smoke causes an estimated 35,000 to 65,000 heart-related deaths each year.

[SOURCE: Suzanne Hughes and Laura L. Hayman, “The 40-Year Public Health Battle against Cigarette Smoking: Are We Winning?” Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, March-April, 2005]


50 Million Americans Addicted 
                                                                                                           

More than 50 million Americans-about 25 percent of the population-are addicted to cigarette smoking, documented to be the greatest single cause of preventable deaths in this country, taking more than 430,000 lives every year and incurring health care and lost productivity costs of more than $100 billion. Surveys indicate that at least 70 percent of smokers would like to quit, and many of these individuals have made several unsuccessful efforts. 
[SOURCE: Jim Ramsay and Anne Hoffman, "Smoking Cessation and Relapse Prevention among Undergraduate Students: A Pilot Demonstration Project," Journal of American College Health, July-August, 2004]

A Pack of Addiction
                                                                                                                       

After a smoker inhales, it takes only seven seconds for nicotine to reach the brain, faster even than heroin. The chemicals released create a feeling of both relaxation and alertness for up to half an hour. Then the craving returns. According to Dr. Michael Cummings of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, the reason that cigarettes are sold in convenient packs of 20 is that a pack supplies the needs of a smoker's nicotine addiction for a day. 
[SOURCE: Karen Fanning, "Killer smoke," Scholastic Choices, February, 2002]

Cut Back on Smoking? Just Quit
                                                                                               

If you’ve tried unsuccessfully to quit smoking, you have probably considered cutting back as an option. Forget it.
In one study, subjects who cut their cigarette smoking in half had 2.4 percent more toxins in their blood than heavier smokers. Another study of 51,000 smokers found that those who cut back to half a pack a day over 20 years had the same death rate from heart disease as those who continued to smoke a full pack a day.

The authors believe that smokers who cut back simply inhaled more deeply to get the nicotine they wanted. Studies also suggest a possible saturation level of some toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke.
[SOURCE: “Could smoking less be safe?” Women’s Heart Advisor Supplement, April, 2007, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention]


Don't Even Think about Smoking 
                                                                                               

For a young person diagnosed with diabetes, one of the first recommendations a doctor is likely to make is: don't smoke. Smoking is bad for a healthy person; for a diabetic, it is double trouble.

·      Diabetics who smoke are more likely than other diabetics to die of heart disease.

·      Smoking is believed to make cells less responsive to insulin, thus making it more difficult to control blood sugar.

·      Smokers have a higher risk of diabetic nerve disorders, kidney disease and diabetic eye problems.

[SOURCE: Shauna S. Roberts, "Smoking & Diabetes: Helping Smokers Quit," Diabetes Forecast, June, 2004]

Early Smoking, Early Heart Disease
                                                                                   

Smoking in early life increases the risk for heart disease 15 years later, according to results of the CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) study. Among young white and African-American males and females followed for 15 years, those developing the greatest degree of calcium deposits in their coronary arteries had smoked more cigarettes and had higher blood pressure when initially tested. Coronary artery calcium is considered highly predictive of heart disease.
[SOURCE: C.M. Loria, et al, “Early adult risk factor levels and subsequent coronary artery calcification: the CARDIA study,” Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2007;49:2013-2020]

If at First You Don’t Succeed...
                                                                                               

Most Americans need more than one shot to successfully kick the smoking habit. Some 46 percent of smokers try to quit every year. The success rate for quitting is about five percent for those who go cold turkey, and 20 to 40 percent for smokers who quit with the aid of nicotine replacement and behavioral therapy.

Much of the difficulty in quitting is believed to stem from opioid receptors in the brain associated with cravings–overwhelming urges that trigger relapses weeks or months after quitting.

Experiments on mice show that blocking specific opioid receptors may help control cravings.
[SOURCE: Anette Breindel, “Cueing in on Reward Pathways: Opioid Research Suggests New Way To Treat Nicotine Cravings,” Bioworld Today, June 24, 2005]

Is Your Baby a Chain Smoker?
                                                                                               

If you smoke yourself, you may as well be letting your infant or toddler light up. About 35 percent of American children live in homes where someone smokes in the home, and these children have detectable levels of cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, in their blood.

A recent study examining urine levels of cotinine in 10- to 12-week-old infants found levels 5.58 times higher in babies of smokers compared to non-smokers. Having a mother who smoked increased cotinine levels by a factor of four; having a father who smoked increased levels by a factor of two.

Children who “smoke” have a high risk of ear and lung infections, asthma, allergies and bronchitis as well as stunted development.
[SOURCE: Joene Hendry, “Nicotine byproduct found in babies of smokers,” Reuters Health, November 13, 2007; American Lung Association, “Secondhand smoke fact sheet,” June, 2007]

Good To Quit–Early or Late
                                                                                                           

Female smokers who quit before they turn 30 are no more likely to die of lung cancer than women who have never smoked, according to a 2005 study. 

But even those who smoke for many years still benefit from quitting. One study found that subjects who quit smoking in their 60s significantly lowered their risk of developing lung cancer and extended their life expectancy by several years.
[SOURCE: “Cigarettes: The Lung Cancer Risk Lingers,” Harvard Health Letter, July, 2005]

Lung Cancer-The Smoking Gun                                                                                     


Kentucky, which produces 30 percent of the country's tobacco, also has the nation's highest rate of lung cancer deaths. The lowest lung cancer death rate, 22 per 100,000, is in Utah, a state that bans smoking in most public areas and has a high population of Mormons, whose church is against the use of tobacco. 
[SOURCE: Brad Edmondson, "Mind If I Breathe? Lung Cancer Demographics," American Demographics, November, 1994]

Lung Inflammation, More Wrinkles
                                                                                   

Smokers often develop premature facial wrinkles. More importantly, they have an elevated risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). And the two may be related.

In one study, dermatologists used photos of current and former smokers to select subjects with “profound wrinkling over most of the face.” Of the 25 most wrinkled subjects, 21 had COPD. Researchers noted that the wrinkles were associated with heavier smoking and “strongly predictive” of airflow obstruction and emphysema.

[SOURCE: B. Patel, Thorax, “Online first edition, June 14, 2006; Miranda Hitti, “Wrinkles Predict Smokers’ Emphysema,” WebMD Medical News, June 13, 2006]

No Hip Huggers for Teen Smokers
                                                                                               

There are many good reasons an adolescent should avoid the smoking habit, but a study published in Circulation [August 1, 2005] may be convincing to those who like to wear hip huggers and bare midriffs. According to this study, teen smokers were more likely than others to develop the metabolic syndrome, which involves excess belly fat and an increased risk of premature heart disease and diabetes.

Among 2,273 subjects 12 to 19 years of age, nine percent of active smokers developed metabolic syndrome compared to five percent of those exposed to second-hand smoke and one percent of those with little or no exposure.
[SOURCE: Jamie Stengle, “Study Links Tobacco Smoke with Belly Fat,” Associated Press, August 1, 2005; American Heart Association, Circulation, August 1, 2005]

Radon Raises Risk in Non-Smokers
                                                                                               

About 14,000 Americans each year die of lung cancer attributed to exposure to radon gas in their homes. After cigarette smoking, radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer. 
Exposure to both tobacco smoke and radon greatly increases the risk, but studies have demonstrated that even non-smokers are at risk from radon. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association [262(5): 629-633, 1989], non-smoking miners exposed to radon had risks of lung cancer 9 to 12 times that of other non-smokers.
[SOURCE: EPA, “A Physician’s Guide–Radon: The Health Threat with a Simple Solution,” EPA Document #402-K-93-008]

The High Cost of Cigarettes
                                                                                                           

If you’re a cigarette smoker worried about the high cost of cigarettes, you should consider some of the hidden costs. For each pack of cigarettes smoked in 1999, according to the American Cancer Society, $3.45 was spent for medical care related to smoking. Another $3.73 was lost in productivity.

More than 8.5 million Americans have chronic medical conditions such as bronchitis, emphysema and heart disease directly related to smoking. Of persons who continue to smoke, half can expect to die from smoking-related illness.
[SOURCE: American Cancer Society, “Cancer Facts & Figures, 2007"]

The Smoking Risk Factor
                                                                                               

Cigarette smoking is considered the number one risk factor for cancer of the pancreas. Smokers have a two- to three-fold increased risk, and about 30 percent of pancreatic cancer patients were smokers at the time of diagnosis.

Other risk factors include lack of exercise, obesity, a high-fat diet and exposure to dry cleaning agents, DDT, PCBs, benzidine, gasoline products and other chemicals.
[SOURCE: Theresa Pluth Yeo, “Current Problems in Cancer,” July-August, 2002]

Smokers at Risk of Aortic Aneurysms 
                                                                                   

Older male smokers, and even ex-smokers, have a higher than normal risk of suffering an aortic aneurysm, a weakening of the main artery leading out of the heart. If an aortic aneurysm ruptures, the person is likely to die before reaching a hospital. A panel of experts, writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine [February 1, 2005], recommended that smokers, ex-smokers and those with a family history of aortic aneurysms should consider getting at least one ultrasound screening exam as a preventive measure. Women and non-smokers have a much lower risk. 
[SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, February 1, 2005; "Scan Older Smokers for Aneurysms, U.S. Group Advises," Reuters Health, January 31, 2005]

Smokers Should Test Their Lungs 
                                                                                               

The slogan of the National Lung Health Education Program (NLHEP) is "test your lungs-know your numbers." The test that has special relevance for smokers is spirometry, a measure of the volume of air you can expel from your lungs in one second. Why take this test? Spirometry is a relatively simple test that can indicate early loss of lung function, a marker for emphysema. Although lung damage that causes emphysema can't be undone, quitting smoking can halt the damage. A timely warning may give a smoker the impetus needed to quit before more serious damage occurs. 
[SOURCE: National Lung Health Education Program, www.nlhelp.org]

Smoking as a Children’s Disease
                                                                                   

Children don’t have to smoke to suffer smoking-related ills. Even before birth, smoking can affect a child’s health.
Prenatal exposure causes genetic damage, increases the risk of childhood asthma by up to 15 percent and is responsible for 40 percent of low-birth-weight babies.

Prenatal exposure also increases the likelihood that a child will become dependent on tobacco later in life. Brains of newborns exposed to tobacco smoke show increased numbers of nicotine receptors.
[SOURCE: Michael Weitzman, “Counsel Parents To Stop Smoking,” Family Practice News, April 1, 2004]

Smoking Endangers Transplant
                                                                                   

Smoking can be a major contributor to heart disease. In fact, one study found that 98 percent of patients requiring a heart transplant had previously been smokers.

More alarming, 26 percent of these transplant recipients continued to smoke, despite warnings of the damage it could do. Another study found that 11.5 years after a transplant procedure, none of the smokers were alive compared to 80 percent of non-smokers.
[SOURCE: Andrea DiMartini, “Beyond Assessment: Psychiatry’s Role in Organ Transplantation,” Psychiatric Times, December 1, 2005]

Smoking Is a Slippery Slope                                                                                                           

It seems harmless enough-just an occasional cigarette at parties or the bar. But statistics show that more than 90 percent of people who start smoking, even if it's just occasionally, go on to become daily smokers. Young people are particularly vulnerable. Most smokers start before the age of 18. 
[SOURCE: Sheldon Gottlieb, "Smokin' Diabetes Blues," Diabetes Forecast, March, 2002]

Smoking Is Bad for Your Back                                                                                               


Patients who are treated for back problems tend to have more severe symptoms and higher rates of depression if they smoke. A study of 25,500 patients treated for spinal problems at 23 U.S. health care centers found that smokers (who comprised about 17 percent of the group) had poorer physical and mental health and were also less likely to benefit from surgery. 
[SOURCE: "Smoking Linked to More Severe Spinal Symptoms," Pain and Central Nervous System Week, April 15, 2002]

Tobacco Marketers Are Winning
                                                                                               

About 21 percent of Americans smoke. That number has not changed since 2004 and Centers for Disease Control officials claim that anti-smoking efforts are flagging because of lack of federal and state funding.

The tobacco industry spends $3.50 per person each year to convince Americans to smoke while federal and state anti-smoking campaigns allocate less than half that amount. The CDC points out that “cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, resulting in approximately 438,000 deaths annually.”
[SOURCE: Maggie Fox, “U.S. smoking rate stalled at 21 percent, CDC says,” Reuters Health, November 8, 2007]