As Holly Golightly in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” Audrey Hepburn puffed on an elegant black cigarette holder. James Dean projected a rebellious tough-guy image, photographed with an ashy cigarette butt hanging precariously from his lower lip. But steadily since then, tobacco smoke has been undergoing a richly deserved vilification. Let’s do the numbers.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies tobacco smoke as a Group A carcinogen, meaning it is known to cause cancer in humans. In fact, nine out of ten lung cancer cases in the United States can be traced to tobacco smoke. Smoking is also responsible for most cases of emphysema and chronic bronchitis in this country.

And it’s not simply smokers who are at risk. Nonsmokers also experience the physical effects of breathing smoky air. A lungful of secondhand smoke (also called passive smoke) is just as harmful as if you took a drag yourself. About 3,000 nonsmoking Americans die from smoke-related lung cancer each year, according to the EPA.

Tobacco smoke (both first- and secondhand) can cause nose and eye irritation, nausea, appetite loss, and poor lung function. In addition to lung cancer, emphysema, and bronchitis, smoking puts you at risk for the following:

• Heart disease
• Asthma
• Respiratory infections and irritations (persistent cough, stuffy nose)
• Headaches
• High blood pressure

The American Lung Association estimates that smoking-related illnesses cost the United States nearly $100 billion each year in health care expenses and lost productivity.

Young secondhand smokers fare the worst. The EPA estimates that passive smoking causes some 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations for American children each year. For children who have asthma, breathing tobacco smoke can trigger and worsen their symptoms. Other smoke-related health problems in children include ear infections, hearing problems, and recurrent pneumonia.

What can you and your family do to avoid tobacco smoke? The Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research suggests:

• If you smoke, stop now. Only eight hours after you’ve had your last cigarette, blood oxygen increases to normal levels. Ask your doctor to recommend strategies for quitting. He or she may prescribe medication to help you kick the habit.
• Don’t let friends or family smoke in your house — even in one room. The airflow through a house can carry smoke into other rooms.
• Don’t let friends or family members smoke in your car — even with the windows open.
• When staying at a hotel, ask for a nonsmoking room. Since tobacco smoke contains tiny solid particles as well as gases, simply airing out the room (or your car or house) won’t get rid of all the cancer-causing substances.
• Avoid stores, restaurants, malls, and other public places that allow smoking. Make sure that the schools and day care centers your children attend protect them from secondhand smoke.
• When flying internationally, ask for a nonsmoking flight. While smoking is banned on all U.S. domestic flights, many international flights still have a smoking section. Airplanes that allow smoking are particularly hazardous, since much of the air inside cabins is filtered, then recirculated throughout the plane.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2007 at 8:37 am and is filed under Healthy Breathing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.