Passive smoking is a killer

By Wendel Abel

MARY HAD never smoked all her life but she lived with Michael, who smoked for 25 years. She developed lung cancer, which the doctors attributed to exposure to tobacco smoke. Mary died as a result of passive smoking.

If you are regularly around people who smoke, you are exposed to passive smoking and all the harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke. Passive smoking refers to second-hand smoke that is inhaled by another person. Second-hand smoke comes from smoke exhaled by someone smoking (referred to as mainstream smoke) or from smoke that comes from the burning cigarette (sidestream smoke). Passive smoking is dangerous because one is inhaling the toxic substances that can affect one’s health and cause cancers. Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 harmful chemicals such as nicotine, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide.

THE HARMFUL EFFECTS

Passive smoking has short- and long-term effects and may also affect children. Among the short-term effects are headaches, cough, sore throat, irritation of the eyes, and dizziness.

Exposure to second-hand smoke over the long term increases the risk of developing chronic obstructive lung disease, which is associated with coughing and difficulty breathing. Long-term exposure to passive smoking increases your risk of developing heart disease or lung cancer by 30 per cent.

SMOKING HARMS CHILDREN

Children are innocent and they deserve to enjoy a healthy life. The adults around are supposed to protect them. Unfortunately, we do not always do so.

The developing unborn baby can be affected by cigarette smoke if the mother smokes. If she is exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy, this may lead to a miscarriage, the baby may be born with low birth weight, and there may be sudden death of the infant, or cot death.

Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at a greater risk of developing asthma. These children are also at a greater risk of developing lung problems such as pneumonia and bronchitis. Additionally, these children tend to have more middle ear infection and are likely to be absent from school more often than other children because of health-related problems.

TOBACCO SMOKING AMONG YOUTH

In addition to the harmful effects of exposure to second-hand smoke, we need to express concerns about the increase in tobacco among young people in Jamaica and the Caribbean as they are exposing themselves to the health risks associated with smoking.

BAN SMOKING IN PUBLIC

Second-hand smoke kills. We should not allow people who smoke to put our lives and those of our children at risk.

• Non-smokers have a right to be protected from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke.
• You should avoid smoking at home. We advise all smokers to seek help, but if you are unable to quit, smoking in a private area such as a garden may be a better option.
• There should be a ban on smoking in public places such as schools, hospitals and workplaces. It has been shown that this is associated with a reduction in the health risks associated with exposure to second-hand smoke.
• We are, therefore, urging you all to join us in calling for a ban on smoking in public areas in Jamaica.

Dr Wendel Abel is a consultant psychiatrist and head, Section of Psychiatry, Dept of Community Health and Psychiatry, University of the West Indies; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.