Smoking Facts: Don't play with yourself
12 Feb. 2007
Smoking is a habit that always begins in adolescence – generally before age 16. Smoking is the single major cause of avoidable cancer deaths in the world. Two cigarettes a day are more than sufficient to cause lung cancer. Chronic lung disease is also common among older smokers, ruining busy and active lives. Lung cancer overtook breast cancer as the biggest killer of women. A Study showed 8% of women did not believe that smoking was related to increased risk of lung cancer.
Smoking also boosts your risk of heart disease. And if you smoke and take the contraceptive pill, your chance of heart disease is 30 times more than of a non-smoker.
Smoking affects your skin too. It ages more rapidly in smokers, with the early appearance of wrinkles and thinning of the skin. Girls, like boys are similarly likely to start smoking and the health implications for girls and women are riskier.
According to the Surgeon General’s report, young women ages 18 to 24 were more likely than young men to report that they experienced symptoms of nicotine dependence. 21% of adult women in the U.S. smokes, compared to 26% of men. Tobacco smoke can start hurting children even before they are born. Women’s who smoke or who are exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant are more likely to have low birth weight babies.
Compared to men, a quarter more women felt panicky or edgy at the thought or quitting. Only 10% wanted to stop because they were concerned about the effects on pregnancy or their children 29% did not think smokers' children were at increased chance of developing asthma. Two thirds did not think smoking increased the risk of crib death.
Quit for your present and for your & your family’s future.
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