DURING the upcoming festive season, many persons are likely to be either new recruits to smoking or the old smokers will exacerbate their habit. Many of my patients who are smokers ask me questions about their custom. Here are a few of those questions along with the respective answers.

I know that smoking is bad for a person’s health. But just how bad is it? 

About as bad as it could get. Smoking is one of the most important causes of disease and is responsible for at least one out of every nine deaths in Guyana. Compared to nonsmokers, smokers have 10 times the risk of getting lung cancer – and twice the risk of dying from lung disease. Smoking also causes chronic lung disease – chronic bronchitis and emphysema – which can be fatal. But that’s not all. As research continues, the list of diseases associated with smoking keeps growing longer. That list now includes stroke, peptic ulcer, osteoporosis, and cataracts, as well as cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, pancreas, kidney, bladder, uterus, cervix – and possibly also leukaemia and cancer of the breast, prostate, and colon. In addition, diabetics who smoke increase their risk of kidney disease. Smoking can interfere with the healing of wounds and fractures. And it increases facial wrinkling, making a person look older when he or she really is. In addition, the tar builds up on the surface of the teeth resulting in permanent staining. The bad breath of inveterate smokers is well known.

What is “passive” or “secondhand” smoking and what harm can it cause me?

These terms refer to the smoke you breathe in from other people’s cigarettes, cigars, or pipes – of from your own smoke, such as when you’re holding a lit cigarette and inhaling the smoke directly. When you breathe other people’s smoke, even if you’re not smoking yourself, in a way you might as well be – because the smoke is going into your lungs, too. Recent studies have shown small but significant increases in the risk of coronary heart disease, lung disease, and cancer among nonsmokers
exposed to cigarette and cigar smoke – a risk that increases with higher levels and longer duration of smoke exposure. Passive smoke has also been linked with the development of lung cancer, heart attack, low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome ( SIDS ), bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, chronic respiratory problems, eye and nasal irritation, and middle ear infection. Children are particularly at risk for the effects of passive smoke.

I just got pregnant, and I smoke. Is it true that smoking can hurt the baby? Should I stop?

You’re probably aware that smoking can hurt you, mainly by increasing your risk of developing cancer and heart disease. So you should stop smoking to protect your own health as well as your baby’s. When a pregnant woman smokes, she exposes her baby to toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke, including more than 40 cancer-causing agents. In addition, medical research studies have shown that pregnant women who smoke increase their risk of such serious problems as miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, low-birth-weight babies, and lower intelligence in the children they are carrying. There are even studies showing that male children of mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to become criminals when they grow up! Tell your obstetrician you smoke, and follow his or her advice on what you can safely do to stop – and improve your chances of having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

What’s so wrong with a teenager experimenting with smoking?

What’s wrong is that cigarette smoking isn’t just bad for your health, it’s also addictive. Most teenagers underestimate their risk of becoming “hooked” on cigarettes – until it’s too late. The truth is, among high school seniors who smoke for 1 to 5 cigarettes a day, a full 70% will still be smoking – and risking their health – 5 years later. Even people who have smoked as few as 100 cigarettes report that they can’t quit smoking. So why take the risk of starting? Remember, the happy, carefree young people you see in cigarette advertisements more closely resemble people who don’t smoke.