Smoking, especially heavy smoking can be the cause of a number of serious diseases, many of which we are aware of, such as lung cancer and heart disease and others of which we have been less informed about, for example atherosclerosis or osteoporosis.
Likewise, we have been even more in the dark about the effects that other people's smoking has on our health, or passive smoking, as it is otherwise known. It is only in the last twenty years or so that conclusive evidence proving that the inhalation of other people's smoke may also be a major health hazard has come to light and can no longer be ignored.
Research carried out in the US during the early 1990's estimated that exposure to tobacco smoke or passive smoking was the third leading preventable cause of death. Only active smoking and alcohol abuse preceded it.
In the US, it has been estimated by the EPA (Enviromental Protection Agency) that 3,000 non-smokers die each year from lung cancer, as a result of breathing in other people's tobacco smoke. 800 of those deaths are caused from exposure to secondhand smoke in the home, whilst a staggering 2,200 from exposure in the workplace or in public places.
Non-smokers who are exposed to breathing in tobacco smoke at home have a 25% higher risk of developing lung cancer or heart disease. If this is added to exposure in the workplace and public places, the risk goes up to as high as 60%.
Many children are affected by passive smoking in the home. In the UK almost half of all children are exposed to secondhand smoke indoors, as either one or both parents smoke in front of them. Doctors say that more than 17,000 children a year, who are under the age of 5 years old, are admitted into hospital due to the harmful effects of passive smoking. If parents did not smoke at home, these illnesses and admissions into hospital could have been avoided.
Due to these recent warnings about passive smoking, a number of Governments are implementing or proposing to implement a complete ban on smoking in all indoor public places and in all workplaces, in order to protect the health of non smokers and smokers and to promote and smoke-free and healthy environment for all.
source : www.helpwithsmoking.com
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