Smoking Brings Unbelievable Damage to Women’s Health




From the very beginning smoking was a privilege of men. In the first dacedes of the 20th century there were a few women who tried a cigarette. After some time women started fighting for their rights saying they could do everything men could including jobs, activities and definitely smoking. In 2007, 19.8 million women smoked in the U.S.

Although there are still more smoking men than women, the number is very high. The female population should realize that taking men’s habits is not always as good as they might think. Woman’s body suffers from smoking more than man’s and therefore there are more smoking-related diseases in women. Every smoking woman should be aware of these facts:

•    80% of lung cancer deaths in women are directly connected to smoking. Although breast cancer has been female problem for centuries, in 1987, lung cancer overcame it by the number of deaths caused among women in the United States.
•    Emphysema and chronic bronchitis (COPD) happen 13 times more often in smokers than non-smoking females. Ninety percent of deaths connected to the disease are the result of smoking. Around 70,000 women die from lung and bronchus cancer every year. In fact, women have already outnumbered men in deaths connected to COPD for almost a decade.
•    173,940 women in the U.S. die annually from cigarette smoking.
•    Smoking females double their risks to develop coronary heart disease.
•    Smoking increases the risk of many types of cancer: oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, kidney, bladder and uterine cervix.
•    Postmenopausal women have lower bone density if they smoke which increases the risk of hip fracture.
•    Although advertisements attract women and teenage girls with tempting facts making them think smoking is the way to look good, slim and athletic, cigarettes actually cause skin wrinkling which reduces attractiveness and makes women look prematurely old.
•    Many women smoke while they are pregnant: in 2005, 10.7% of future mothers smoked which is 40% less than in 1990. The primary number of smoking women in this case is made by American Indian/Alaska Native females. Since 1990 teenagers and young adults had high rates of maternal smoking. In 2005, 16.6% teens at age 15-19 and 18.6% young women at age 20-24 smoked while being pregnant.
•    Smoking mothers pass nicotine to babies though breast milk. Cigarettes are very bad for the fetus: nicotine goes through placenta poisoning the baby; it also blocks 25% of oxygen from reaching the placenta. Smoking is the result of low-birth weight, 14% of preterm deliveries and 10% of infant deaths.
•    Children become sick with colds, bronchitis, asthma and many other respiratory diseases if they are exposed to secondhand smoking at home, day care or school.
•    Quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing smoking-related diseases and premature deaths for all women and their children.
•    The reasons for coming back to cigarettes after quitting are different for women than men. Ladies relapse because of stress, weight gain and negative emotions.
•    Female smokers with mild or moderate chronic pulmonary disease tend to breathe easier after quitting. Lung work improves quicker for women than for men after a year of non-smoking.

Nicole Turner

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Posted on August 14, 2009 
Filed Under Facts on Smoking, Smoking and Health, Smoking and Women

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