Just because the cigarette isn’t in your mouth and you aren’t inhaling on the cigarette, that doesn’t mean you are immune to cigarette smoke. Research has found that second-hand smoke is bad for your health and is just as damaging and just as harmful as if you are the smoker. Secondhand smoke can cause disease and death in both kids and adults if it is inhaled a lot over time.
Secondhand smoke has over 50 chemicals that are known as cancer-causing agents. It can cause lung cancer in people who have never smoked a cigarette in their life. Second hand smoke causes heart disease. It increases the likelihood of having a heart attack. It can also cause shortness of breath and other breathing problems.
Babies and young children are extremely susceptible to secondhand smoke. Because their bodies are growing, the smoke has more impact on their bodies. Studies have found that expectant mothers who breathe secondhand smoke are more likely to have a baby that weighs less than 5 pounds. (Babies with a low birth weight are weaker and have a higher risk for health problems.) Those babies also have weaker lungs.
Children who have parents that smoke get pneumonia and cases of bronchitis more often. For children who have asthma, secondhand smoke causes them to have more asthma attacks. Their attacks are more sever, too. These children are more prone to ear infections.
Here are some prevention steps to protect your family and their health from the effects of secondhand smoke. The most important one is to make your home smoke free. Don’t allow people to smoke in your home. Keep your child away from anyone who smokes. Don’t allow people to smoke in your personal car and don’t allow your children to ride in someone else’s car who smokes. Eat in smoke free areas of restaurants. Do not use day care providers who smoke. Do not go into indoor public places that allow smoking. Following these few guidelines will maintain good health in your family and prevent diseases and illnesses associated with