Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Long-last effects of smoke exposure

The article on chronic lung disorder touches home for me Canadians at risk of chronic lung disorder: survey. I fall into the age group since I’m 46 and I do have problems with my lungs. They tighten up easily and I have had problems over the past years. I was from that generation when my father smoked his pipe in the car with the windows closed. I hated it, but I didn’t have much say in it, unfortunately.

The American Lung Association has an interesting fact sheet that lists the many dangers of second-hand smoke. Reuters Health carried this article last week: Nicotine byproduct found in babies of smokers.

I do realize and understand that smokers are feeling attacked – they can’t do a legal activity in many places; they are reviled by many because of their smoking. And, even as a non-smoker, I can understand that. If smoking is legal, it does seem to be contradictory to be forbidding it in so many places. The problem is though, where does their right to smoke end and my right to not breathe in their smoke begin?

What I don’t understand is why the kids are still beginning to smoke. Most kids I know have been told all their young lives how horrible smoking is – and yet they still begin. In Quebec, cigarettes are really expensive – so not only are they taking part of a habit that is ultimately health destroying, it’s hard on the pocketbook.

People who are heavily addicted are forced to stand outside in nasty, cold weather to get their cigarette fix, but where is the appeal for the teens who aren’t yet addicted? Is it still considered cool to smoke?

News for Today:

Canadians at risk of chronic lung disorder: survey
Trauma may alter the stress response, even in healthy people, Cornell study shows
Methadone alternative to hit Canadian market
Skin injuries to patients can be avoided when radiation dose is monitored
Illicit drug use among students steady, but painkiller use of concern: report
Post-treatment PET scans can reassure cervical cancer patients
Heart disease kills more U.S. women under 45

2 comments:

Terrie Farley Moran said...

I'm guessing the kids today start to smoke for the same reason I did nearly fifty years ago. Someone told them not to smoke, so of course they have to try it.

There is also some variant of it's okay to smoke as a kid and quit after college, that I don't quite get. It's as though no damage is done until you are over thirty. Hopefully, smoking has become so restricted that most of them will quit. Still . . . I'd rather they never start.

therapydoc said...

Thanks for bringing this up. They SHOULDN'T of course, but they shouldn't use drugs, drink, be screwing around, either.

Too bad that scarring your lungs can happen at any age, certainly when you're young.