Several major hazards of secondhand smoke to women

We often say that smoking is harmful to health, but there are still many people who have developed the bad habit of smoking. Nowadays, not only male friends like to smoke, but many women also have the habit of smoking. Smoking not only harms our own bodies but also easily affects the people around us. The harm of breathing secondhand smoke is also very great. Inhaling secondhand smoke may not only cause women to develop diseases such as lung cancer and coronary heart disease, but may also cause symptoms such as pharyngitis and infertility. Below we introduce the major hazards of inhaling secondhand smoke to women.

The harm of secondhand smoke to women: lung cancer

Compared with men, women are more harmed by tobacco. Some women who live with smokers have a 6 times higher risk of developing lung cancer than normal people. It should be noted that the risk of lung cancer for female smokers is more serious, which is 1.9 times that of male smokers.

The harm of secondhand smoke to passive smokers is no less than that to active smokers, and it is especially serious for pregnant women and children. Studies have shown that if a person spends more than 15 minutes with a smoker every day, the harm caused by second-hand smoke is equivalent to that of a smoker. 75% of lung cancer patients can be traced back to smoking.

The second harm of secondhand smoke to women: coronary heart disease

Smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease in men by 4 to 6 times and in women by 6 to 9 times; exposure to environmental tobacco smoke increases the risk of death from heart disease in non-smoking women, and secondhand smoke significantly increases the incidence of coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, and peripheral vascular disease in women.

The reason why passive smoking leads to coronary heart disease is that the chemicals inhaled from passive smoking can cause abnormal blood lipids, blood viscosity, damage myocardial tissue, and reduce the blood vessels' ability to regulate blood pressure and blood flow, thereby increasing the risk of myocardial infarction.

The third harm of secondhand smoke to women: pharyngitis

Long-term exposure to secondhand smoke is a common cause of chronic pharyngitis. Harmful substances in smoke, such as tar, nicotine, etc., can inhibit the activity of respiratory cilia, weaken the purification ability of the respiratory tract, and cause congestion and edema of the bronchial mucosa, thereby allowing external pathogens to enter the bronchi and cause repeated infections in this area, leading to chronic pharyngitis. In addition, frequent exposure to secondhand smoke may also cause serious diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, ear inflammation, and lung cancer.

The fourth harm of secondhand smoke to women: it reduces the secretion of breast milk

Research in the United States has found that passive or active smoking by pregnant women can lower prolactin levels and reduce maternal milk secretion. Animal experiments have proven that smoking increases the turnover rate of dopamine, which inhibits prolactin.

The fifth harm of secondhand smoke to women: infertility, birth defects, stillbirth and miscarriage

From a clinical perspective, smoking can have adverse effects on women's reproductive function, sexual function, endocrine system and other aspects, increasing the risk of infertility. Clinical surveys show that smokers and secondhand smokers are 2 to 7 times more likely to suffer from infertility than non-smokers. At the same time, smoking can seriously damage women's reproductive function and reduce the chances of women becoming pregnant. If both men and women smoke, the woman's pregnancy rate will be lower.

In the above article, we introduced a common behavior, that is, smoking. We know that smoking not only affects our body but also affects the people around us, so we must quit the bad habit of smoking. The above article introduces in detail the major hazards of secondhand smoke to women.