How To Stop Smoking

Secondhand smoke is a combination of the smoke produced from a burning cigarette and the smoke exhaled by the smoker. Second-hand smoke is also known as passive smoke or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Mostly the term second-hand smoke is used as opposed to ETS because the latter infers a relationship between tobacco smoke and the environment in general resulting in confusion about its exact meaning. Such environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) can be easily recognized by its distinctive odor as it contaminates the air and gets retained in clothing, curtains and furniture, etc.

However, it is not just limited to irritation; ETS represents a dangerous health hazards across the globe. Over 4,000 different chemicals have been identified in ETS, and around 50 of these chemicals are known carcinogens. Some of the commonly found chemicals in secondhand smoke include, but are not limited to:

• Benzopyrenes: These are otherwise found in coal tar, one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals.

• Formaldehyde: It is normally used to preserve dead animals.

• Hydrogen cyanide: It is used in rat poison!

• Ammonia: It is used to clean floors and toilets.

Breathing second-hand smoke can be more dangerous than inhaling smoke through a cigarette. It has twice as much nicotine and tar as the smoke that people smoking inhale and five times more carbon monoxide, a deadly gas that starves your body of oxygen. Harmful effects of Passive Smoking:

People who do not smoke, and who are exposed to the toxic chemicals in second-hand smoke on a regular basis, can suffer serious and life-threatening health problems. In the long term, people exposed to second-hand smoke have a greater risk of suffering from lung cancer, nasal sinus cancer, heart disease, stroke, and breathing problems, including increased coughing, wheezing, pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma. In fact every time a person breathes in second-hand smoke, he/she consumes over 100 harmful chemical agents – carcinogens and toxins.

People who live with someone who smokes and are exposed to tobacco smoke on a regular basis have around 30 per cent increased risk of developing lung cancer and heart disease. Even as little as 8 to 20 minutes of passive smoking can cause physical reactions linked to heart disease and stroke, such as increased heart rate, less oxygen to the heart, and constricted blood vessels that increases blood pressure and makes the heart work harder. Effects on Infants:

Children are at even higher risk because their lungs are still in a stage of development and can be more easily damaged by second-hand smoke. Infants also inhale more amount of the smoke because they breathe much faster than adults. Infants who breathe second-hand smoke have a greater chance of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also known as crib death. More than three times as many infants die from second-hand smoke-related SIDS as from child abuse or homicide. Effects of tobacco smoking on children is more than adult person. Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke have double the risk of getting bronchitis and pneumonia.

Second-hand smoke can affect children’s behavior and their ability to understand and reason. Studies have shown that children who are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke score lower on tests in reading, math, logic and reasoning skills. For children with asthma, exposure to even small amounts of second-hand smoke can trigger an asthma attack. Breathing second-hand smoke can increase the number of asthma attacks. Exposing children with asthma to second-hand smoke in the home increases the number of emergency room visits and hospital stays. Exposure to second-hand smoke can cause children without asthma to develop it.

Related posts on how to stop smoking:

1. Effects of Secondhand Smoke on Children Can be Irreversible Everyone feels that smoking is bad, especially for youngsters. But what are the possible effects of secondhand smoke on children, particularly the infant and secondhand smoke? Let’s take a look at the health effects on a child who is exposed to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is the name of the smoke that is [...]...
2. The Effects of Environmental Smoking Environmental smoke inhalation is the unintentional ingestion of smoke from tobacco products which include cigars, pipes and cigarettes,amongst others. It is sometimes known as secondhand smoke, passive or sidestream smoke from tobacco. People who stick around with anybody who smokes cigarettes are believed to be diminished by passive smoking, naturally husbands wives, children [...]...
3. The Danger From Smoking – Face the Facts Almost everybody knows that smoking is bad for the health. Images of blackened lungs line school hallways and hospital waiting rooms, but despite this people continue to take up smoking. This may have to do with the pervasive romantic image of smoking — an image that has nothing in common with reality. [...]...
4. Know More About the Dangers of Smoking Almost everybody knows that smoking is bad for the health. Images of blackened lungs line school hallways and hospital waiting rooms, but despite this people continue to take up smoking. This may have to do with the pervasive romantic image of smoking — an image that has nothing in common with reality. There are [...]...
5. Even Your Pets are at Risk From Passive Smoking! When people mention “secondhand smoke intake” what exactly do the mean? The literal description is the casual taking in of smoke given out by the smoldering section of a cigarette together with the smoke exhaled by the person smoking it. This is sometimes referred to as side stream tobacco smoking, though not really on [...]...
6. Even Unborn Babies are not Safe From Passive Tobacco Smoke! Almost half a million people prematurely lose their lives due to smoking tobacco products every year just in the USA. These untimely deaths are in the main ascribable the powerful nature of the nicotine contained in tobacco and its fumes. The human brain is stimulated by nicotine, inducing the person smoking tobacco to [...]...
7. Quit Smoking Benefit Smoking is bad for your health. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body. Smoking is a practice where a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke tasted or inhaled. Smoking not only harms your health but it hurts the health of those around you. Exposure to secondhand smoke [...]...
8. Effects Of Stop Smoking – Live Life As You Want! It is a very well-known fact that if smokers were to give up their vicious addiction, they would surely be on the way to leading a better life for themselves. There is indeed a lot of information on the positive effects of stop smoking, and it is actually surprising why people succumb to the [...]...
9. If I Quit Smoking With Lobelia Is It Safe How safe is it if you quit smoking with lobelia? Everyone that smokes knows that it is not that easy to just quit although most peopel have tried once or several times only to find that they go back to same old habit of smoking again as the nicotine content of the cigarette has you hooked. Once you start smoking you inevitable become addicted to the nicotine and not the actual cigarette....
10. Quit Smoking Side Effects Most smokers do not quit because of side effects of smoking, making nicotine is out of your body very hard and the battle can be harder than you think. The quit smoking side effects include blood sugar, most are related. Symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, dizziness or headaches may usually appear in the first three [...]...