Smoking in either partner
may cause:
Risk of miscarriage,
Premature rupture of the membranes,
Pre-eclampsia,
Premature birth/perinatal death,
Development disorders of brain & intellect,
Mental retardation, eye problems, chest problems (asthma, bronchitis),
spacticity, blindness, deafness, autism & epilepsy are all
more common,
Undescended testicles, squints, facial abnormalities.
Short attention span, abnormal mental development, hyperactivity
and behavioural abnormalities, Increased risk of cancer and leukaemia.
Limb reduction deformities.
Simple Solution
Both parents banish cigarettes from their lives. Homeopathy,
reflexology, and/or acupuncture may prove helpful to people
giving up.
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SMOKING AND TAR IN THE LUNGS
- WHEN A SMOKER INHALES, ABOUT 70% OF THE TAR IN THE SMOKE STAYS
IN THE LUNGS
- THE SUBSTANCES IN THE TAR CAUSE CANCER
- THE IRRITANTS IN TAR DAMAGE THE LUNGS BY CAUSING NARROWING
OF THE SMALL TUBES (BRONCHIOLES)
- THEY ALSO DAMAGE THE SMALL HAIRS (CILIA) THAT HELP PROTECT
THE LUNGS FROM DIRT AND INFECTION
LOW TAR CIGARETTES
- BECAUSE THE SMOKERS OF LOW TAR CIGARETTES INHALE DEEPER TO
GET THE LEVEL OF NICOTINE THEY WANT, THEY TAKE IN MUCH HIGHER
LEVELS OF NICOTINE AND TAR THAN IS ADVERTISED ON THE PACKET
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OTHER CHEMICALS FOUND IN TOBACCO SMOKE
- acetone widely used solvent, for example in nail polish remover
- amonia found in strong cleaning fluids
- arsenic a deadly poison used in insecticides
- benzene used as a solvent in fuel and
chemical manufacture
- formaldehyde highly poisonous, used to
preserve dead bodies
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60mg of pure nicotine placed on a person’s
tongue, would kill within minutes
SOURCE: Department of Health, 2002
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| The effect on the Next Generation
If a woman who smoked had a daughter, and
that daughter does not smoke, when that daughter becomes pregnant,
she has a much
higher risk of a break-through bleed early in pregnancy, and
therefore a higher risk of miscarriage.
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BECAUSE MOTHERS SMOKED:
- one baby a day dies a cot death victim – 365 baby deaths
a year
- 420 deaths shortly before or after birth each year
- 4,000 extra miscarriages each year
Source : The Royal College of Physicians Report, July 1992
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FATHERS WHO SMOKE HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY LIGHTER
BABIES
- because smoking damages sperm
- because the mother becomes a passive smoker
Young children of parents who smoke have a level of nicotine
in their bodies as if they themselves were smoking 60 – 100
cigarettes a year.
Parental smoking causes their children 17,000 hospital admissions
a year
Source : The Royal College of Physicians Report, July 1992 |
Every day in britain:
- 450
children start
smoking
- 300 adults die because of smoking
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- The proportion of young people who smoke has increased – particularly
young women
- A smoker who starts at age fifteen is three times more likely
to develop lung cancer than someone who starts when they are
over twenty five
- Lung cancer was rare in women. Now it has
over taken breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths
in women
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WHAT SMOKING DOES TO YOUR BODY
- cancer of the nose
- cancer of the mouth
- increased coughing and sneezing
- shortness of breath
- lung cancer
- leukaemia
- chronic bronchitis and emphysema
- cancer of the bladder
- affected fertility
- gangrene
- stroke
- defective vision
- cancer of the larynx
- cancer of the throat
- cancer of the oesophagus
- aortic aneurysm
- coronary heart disease
- cancer of the stomach
- peptic ulcer
- cancer of the pancreas
- peripheral vascular disease
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The Biggest Killer...
• Smoking is the greatest single cause of ill health
and premature death in the UK.
• Smokers have a 1 in 2 risk of getting ill and dying early from
smoking.
• Smoking kills 120,000 people each year in the UK, compared to 5,000
in road accidents
• 13 people die each hour from smoking.
• Over 80% of all lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking.
Source : The Royal College of Physicians Report,
July 1992
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Men who smoke run the risk of fathering children who develop
cancer.
1 in 7 childhood cancers including leukaemia and brain tumours
could be due to the father’s smoking habits.
Source: based on Oxford Survey on Childhood
Cancers
Published in the British Journal of Cancer
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TOBACCO SMOKE CONTAINS MORE THAN 4,000 COMPOUNDS INCLUDING:
CARBON MONOXIDE, OXIDE OF NITROGEN, AMMONIA, AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS,
HYDROGEN CYANIDE, VINYL CHLORIDE AND NICOTINE
CYANIDE
a) contributes to retarded infant growth
b) decreases concentration of vitamin B12
CARBON MONOXIDE
•
high CO affects fetal blood flow to brain, heart and adrenal
glands
•
affects brain DNA and protein synthesis
NICOTINE
•
changes adrenaline and cortisol levels in blood
•
causes fetal heart rate changes
•
decreases uteroplacental blood flow
•
affects placental amino-acid uptake [fetal growth retardation]
•
affects placental amino-acid uptake
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
•
widely distributed mutagens and carcinogens
• interferes with placental hormone activity
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| Professor Bruce Ames, a leading cancer researcher, attributed
many birth defects and cancers in children to fathers who smoke.
He quoted research going back at least fifty years, which shows
that the majority of congenital defects are from the male line.
German research has shown that if the father smokes heavily,
the child is two and a half times as likely to suffer some malformation.
They may also suffer from a greater number of health problems,
particularly respiratory infections and allergies.
International Conference on Environmental Mutagens
Melbourne 1992.
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| PASSIVE SMOKING
The USA has classified environmental tobacco smoke as a Class
A carcinogen, along with asbestos, arsenic, benzene and radon
gas.
Passive smokers are also at risk, amongst other things, to asthma,
and heart attacks.
Approximately half of all the children in the UK are exposed
to tobacco smoke.
If both parents smoke, the children have a 72% increased risk
of respiratory illness, middle ear infections, cardio-vascular
impairment, bronchitis, pneumonia and behavioural problems.
This information is from the anti-smoking
organisation “Ash”.
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