Smoking
- The
risks
Risks
to you:
Smoking is the greatest single self-imposed risk to
health of all. Tobacco related diseases not only lead
to many premature deaths but also to years of disease
and disability.
One half of all people who regularly smoke will be
killed by cigarettes, half in middle age and half
in their senior years.
If you stop smoking before middle age you will avoid
almost all the increased risk that would have otherwise
occurred. Even stopping smoking in middle age can
lower your risk.
Respiratory illness, Coronary Heart Disease and cancer
are all associated with smoking.
Risks
to your family:
Respiratory illness, chest, nose, ear and throat infections.
Babies who are exposed to tobacco smoke at home are
at increased risk of sudden infant death.
Young children who have one or more parents who smoke
are twice as likely to suffer with chest problems
in their first year of life. They will have more chest,
nose, ear and throat infections than children whose
parents do not smoke. They are also more likely to
take up smoking themselves later in life.
If you are pregnant you can damage your baby's chances
of being healthy by smoking even before the baby is
born.
Advice:
If you don't use tobacco don't start.
If you do use Tobacco you can lower your risk by stopping
now. The health benefits will start immediately.
You will be less at risk from major illnesses.
You will have more money to spend on better food and
clothes.
You will feel more healthy. And you will influence
your family's healthy lifestyle.
