Secondhand Smoke

How many cigarettes have you smoked today without having made the conscious decision to light one up?

…And you thought you were a non-smoker.

Do you realize that just being in a public establishment, the work place or even your own home that allows smoking subjects you to the same health risks as those whom actually smoke the tobacco?

Even if you are a non-smoker you are probably inhaling a considerable amount of cigarette smoke everyday. And it is not just nicotine but approximately 4000 chemical poisons such as benzene, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide along with over 40 known cancer causing agents that you are exposed to. Cigarette smoke not only causes cancer but increases the risk of severe respiratory infections, reduced lung function, coughs, excess phlegm, wheezing, allergies, asthma, chronic ear infections, eye infections, nose and throat irritations, cardiovascular diseases, chest pain and discomforts, strokes, emphysema and many more chronic health issues.

How much are you inhaling as a non-smoker?

Studies conducted at the University Of California, Berkeley, School Of Public Health shows that spending just two hours in a smokey bar is equivalent to smoking four cigarettes. Two hours in a restaurant equals one and a half. Eight hours in the work place or office that allows smoking is equivalent to six cigarettes and living with a pack-a-day smoker in the home is equal to you smoking 3 cigarettes.

There are two types of secondhand smoke. They are mainstream smoke and side-stream smoke. The first being the smoke brought through the filter when the smoker puffs or inhales. After the smoker exhales, non-smokers are also subjected to this mainstream smoke. Side-stream smoke being the more dangerous. This is the smoke emitted into the air directly from the burning tobacco. Side-stream smoke is inhaled by anyone who is in the same area as the smoker. The toxic chemicals emitted from the side-stream smoke are 15 times stronger than that in mainstream smoke.

Cigarette smoking is becoming more and more unaccepted. Being a smoker is a conscious choice to subject oneself to the chemical poisons and the serious health risks that smoking can cause but should not be projected at anytime onto another.

If you choose to be a smoker, please respect the health of others and be considerate to those around you that may have chosen not to partake in smoking and wishes not to be subjected to your habit.

As an adult, we can remove ourselves from an environment that we feel is unhealthy but many children are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke (referred to as passive smoking) which is responsible for approximately 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children less than 18 months old and around 3000 lung cancer deaths per year, as noted by the EPA. Passive smoking also contributes to chronic ear infections in young children, it is the number one cause of doctor visits and antibiotic prescriptions, which inturn leads to chronic systemic candida, causing a snowball effect of related illnesses such as digestive disorders, leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, allergies, asthma and many, many other health problems.

As a parent, if you feel the need to smoke, please designate a smoking room with increased ventilation away from your children, or simply smoke outside only. Don’t smoke in the car, as being enclosed in such a small area is even more detrimental to the health of your children and loved ones. Or better yet, quit!

If there is smoking allowed in the work place, speak with management or a labor organization to establish a smoke free environment or ask that a designated smoking area be assigned away from non-smoking employees.
Being a smoker today is becoming more difficult, not only is it less acceptable, but the public has become more aware of the hazards not only to the smoker but the non-smoker as well and are speaking out against the habit and actually find it offensive and criminal to have it forced upon them and are now taking a stand in order to create a smoke-free environment.
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With health issues at hand and prices rising perhaps it is time to set an example for our youth and begin to weed out old unhealthy habits and bring about a state of wellness for ourselves and others around us starting with the elimination of cigarette smoking. If you wish to stop smoking, there is no better time than now. If you are finding it a difficult addiction to overcome then speak to a healthcare professional that can support you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually…creating a balance and shedding any negative habits from your life will begin you on your path to DISCOVERING WELLNESS.