The dangers of passive smoking causing or contributing to a serious illness is probably quite small but nevertheless still a risk and if not worth banning for that reason then because its plain unpleasant to anyone who doesnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t smoke. Manners, courtesy etc.
I remember reading something in the BMJ a while back that was controversially proposing that the dangers of passive smoking were not as high as first thought however, we mustn't let ourselves be deceived that it's OK or not worth bothering about.
The risk is not only lung cancer or heart disease either. Smoking causes/exacerbates numerous health problems.
It can cause oral cancer, throat cancer, CVA (stroke), hypertension (high blood pressure), AMI (heart attack), Ischaemic heart disease, Cardiac arrhythmias, Vascular disease (can lead to leg amputation), breathing problems like asthma, COPD, emphysema, bronchitis, chest infection, (within seconds of coming into contact with smoke the little villi on your trachea/bronchi are paralysed. These little epithelial †œhairsâ € usually fibrillate gently to help bring mucus from your lungs back up the trachea for you to swallow
. After smoking these do not work temporarily and your lungs get †œclogged upâ₠¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ more than they should. This can lead to chest infection etc), Graves disease (causes hyperthyroidism), osteoporosis, premature delivery in pregnancy - even increased perinatal mortality and SIDS (cot death), lower baby weights, even abortion, increased risk of DVT (deep vein thrombosis), reduction in fertility etc That's the ones that I can bring to mind needless to say that there are many more reasons.
Why am I mentioning all these? Firstly I think itâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s worth stating but I also think that there is a general delusion amongst smokers that smoking is OK and not particularly risky. They may well infer that they "know it's bad for me health" but I don't think that many really take it to heart (no pun intended ) It's true that some smokers get to the age of 90 but many many more die of a MI before they are 60. It's true that you could get run over by a bus but to be honest that is a much better way to die than from a smoking related disease such as emphysema or cancer.