How can passive smoking affect you?

Answer 1

Effects of Passive Smoking on a Fetus and Newborn

Pregnant women who smoke are advised to quit. Smoking causes them much less harm than is caused to the developing fetus. Birth defects such as cleft lip and palate combined with a low birth weight have been noticed in cases of mothers smoking. With the mother continuing smoking even after giving birth, the production of milk is reduced. The chances of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) too increases due to maternal smoking.

Effects of Passive Smoking on a Child

Passive Smoking and children are a lethal combination. Children are affected the maximum due to second hand smoke, especially when it happens at home.

All the organs of a child are in the development stage, and breathing it in can mainly impair the proper development of their lungs and brain. Children exposed constantly to passive smoking tend to develop childhood asthma which could get worse with further exposure.

Sinusitis, cystic fibrosis, and chronic respiratory diseases get worse when a suffering child is forced into passive smoking. Other diseases that are caused due to passive smoking and can be very difficult for small children to cope with are bronchitis and pneumonia.

Many children exposed to passive smoking develop an infection in the middle ear. The inhaled smoke irritates the eustachian tube that connects the back of the nose to the middle ear. This irritation causes a swelling and obstruction, which causes an imbalance of pressure equalization in the middle ear. This causes fluid retention and infection in the middle ear which is very painful for the child. If diagnosed and treated in time it is totally curable, but if treatment is delayed, it could even lead to a permanent reduction in hearing.

Health Effects of Second Hand Smoke Exposure

Involuntary inhalation of second hand smoke can lead to a variety of immediate effects. Some harmful effects of second hand smoke inhalation can consist of one or more of the following.

-- Cough

-- Nausea

-- Headache

-- Eye irritation

-- Sore throat

-- Dizziness

-- Difficulty in breathing in those already suffering from asthma

Long term involuntary smoking increases the risk of smoking-related disease. A person exposed to involuntary smoking over a period of time could be infected by one or more of the following diseases.

-- Lung Cancer

-- Ischemic Heart disease

-- Harmful effect on the cardiovascular system, increasing the chances of a heart attack

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